


The Darkest Flower

by LightningEagle



Series: The Kindest Devil [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, BAMF Yamanaka Ino, Character Death, Missing-Nin, Murdering-your-clone, Not Really Character Death, Original Jutsus, Prophecy, Rouge-Ninja!Ino, Schizophrenia!Ino, Soul Clones, Yamanaka Ino-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-05-01
Packaged: 2019-02-27 15:59:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 18
Words: 43,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13251630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightningEagle/pseuds/LightningEagle
Summary: Yamanaka Ino grew up alone.At the age of four, her mother was hospitalized.Five, she met up with someone who was hopefully going to cure her mother.Age six, she starts at the academy. Her father doesn't show.On her seventh birthday, Ino had her first kill and lost her best friend.At eight, she lost another person.She spend the time between her ninth and tenth birthday travelling and training with a her contact.Tenth was her debut.She celebrated her eleventh birthday alone.At the age of twelve, she realized the world was the worst thing that could have happened.Yamanaka was pronounced dead on September 28, killed by Rouge.





	1. Fourth

"Kaa-san?" Ino asked, looking at her mother curiously from outside the bathroom. Her father wasn't home, and Ino was only four, so she couldn't be at the Academy.

Her mother, Yamanaka Noriko, gasped, and shot up, looking at her daughter, a green tinge around her face.

"Oh, Ino." the brown haired woman sighed in relief, shaking with the effort to keep herself up.

It happened in a second, but Ino could swear it lasted for an hour.

Noriko smiled in relief, tremors racking her body and small amounts of blood covering her teeth. Her grip loosened on the sink's counter, and her eyes rolled back into her head, making it impossible for Ino to see the brown iris' of her mother's calming eyes. Ino could only watch in horror as her mother began to fall, her head aimed for the side of the tub.

The young, four year old blonde stood, frozen to the spot, as Yamanaka Noriko's head slammed against the white porcelain and a crack was heard. The brown haired woman's head bounced off the tub's side and she crumpled to the ground.

And Ino screamed.

* * *

Ino ran to the first person she saw with a Konoha hitai ate proudly displayed on their forehead.

"Shinobi-san!" Ino screamed, running into the man's legs.

"Hm?" the man asked, looking down at the blonde. She looked up at his face

"Shinobi-san!" Ino exclaimed, tears streaming down her face. "My Kaa-san! Please help her! You have to help her!"

"Huh?" 

Ino ignored the intelligent answer from the man and dragged her towards her home, a urgent and frantic aura surrounding her. The man, who was wearing his ANBU uniform and was just patrolling the civilian districts let the little girl drag her straight to the Yamanaka flower shop.

The girl pulled him into the living area of the family and shoved him towards the bathroom. The man didn’t even get to look around.

When Ino had finally gotten the ANBU shinobi to look in the bathroom, the man’s lone eye widened in shock and he quickly rushed inside.

Pressing two fingers to Ino’s mother’s neck, he found a faint pulse. What on earth had caused this? Looking over his shoulder at the terrified blonde girl, the man sighed.

“Shinobi-san, what’s wrong with her?” Ino asked timidly, her big blue eyes worried for her Kaa-san.

“I don’t know Yamanaka-san,” the man sighed. “I’m going to get some medical nins in here, okay?”

Ino froze, and suddenly latched onto his arm.

“But what if Kaa-san gets worse while your gone!?” she exclaimed. “Tou-sama can leave copies at home when Kaa-san’s shopping, and Kaa-san does too! Can you make copies Shinobi-san?”

The man suddenly realized what she wanted. To leave a clone that will send information on the little girl’s mom to him if she gets worse.

“Yes, I can make Bushin,” he confirmed, and the girl’s blue eyes looked at him happily. “And my name isn’t Shinobi-san. It’s Hatake Kakashi.”

“I’m Yamanaka Ino,” Ino introduced, then shoved him towards the bathroom window. “Make a bushin Hatake-san!” she exclaimed. “Save Kaa-san!”

Nodding once, Kakashi quickly made the shadow clone needed, and launched himself out the window. He dashed towards the hospital, hoping they could spare a few nins to help with Ino’s mother.

Ino looked at her mother sadly. “Kaa-san, what happened?”

* * *

Kakashi poofed into existence in the Yamanaka living room just as Ino came out of the bathroom in a sprint.

“Hatake-san!” she shouted, after running into him. “Kaa-san’s mouth is drooling red!”

Kakashi’s eyes widened as he shove Ino out of the way and quickly rushed to the bathroom. Kneeling down next to Ino’s mother, he quickly began performing CPR.

"Make way!" Medical ninjas shouted, dashing down the street towards where the Yamanaka shop was. Ino heard some doors open, so she rushed out to greet some more ninja.

"Where's the patient?" one, the leader, questioned. He looked around for someone, but all he saw was a four year old girl.

“Hatake-san is pressing on her chest, Medic-san!” Ino exclaimed, leading the man towards the bathroom.

“Thank kami your here!” Kakashi exclaimed, getting out of the way of the woman. “Blood is coming out of her mouth!” And the medic nins began to work on Ino’s mother.

Kakashi looked down at the young blonde and placing a hand on her shoulder, he led her out of the house and towards the hospital. Both were just walking when Ino suddenly clasped Kakashi’s hand in her own.

“Do you think Kaa-san’s going to be okay?” Ino asked.

“I don’t know,” Kakashi responded bluntly. “But she might die.” Ino bit her lip in fear, her eyes sad.

“But if that happens, will you come to her funeral, Hatake-san?”

Kakashi didn’t respond.

* * *

On that day, on September 23, four years after the Kyuubi attack of Konohagakure, Yamanaka Ino spent her birthday worrying about her mother and in the hospital. In fact, Ino didn’t even remember it was her birthday until a month later.


	2. Fifth

About a 10 months ago, Ino’s mother, Yamanaka Noriko, was sent to the hospital for poisoned chakra. The doctors were trying to find a cure but so far, they were failing. No one knew how she got a poisoned chakra stream, but Ino was willing to bet it was from herself.

So, Ino caused her mother’s coma.

Four months after her mother’s admittance, Ino had rarely been home. Her aunt had begun to run the flower shop, making Ino and her father move to the Yamanaka compound. Her father was drowning himself in work and thinking he had a babysitter for Ino. Ino had merely cast a light genjutsu over her great-aunt, a civilian.

Pretty simple.

What Ino was doing was going outside of the village to hunt down cures for her mother. Already at the age of four, she had maimed people.

Two month ago, eight months after her mother was in ICU, she had met someone who was willing to help, for a small price.

“Don’t you just love shooting stars?” someone asked, looking at Ino. She looked up, her hoodie obscuring her eyes.

“It just sucks that they can’t go back to heaven.” she sighed, and the man smirked. Sliding into the seat across from her, her waved a attendant over.

“I found a weakness in the poison and I’ve developed a-Thank you-an antidote that only slows down the poison,” he admitted and poured some sake into his bottle. Downing the small cup, he looked back at the hooded girl. "I don’t need any more DNA, although it would be interesting to have a brain scan of a Yamanaka. Can you get that for me?”

Ino scoffed. “Who do you think I am?” she asked. “Of course I can, but you better give me the fucking antidote or you ain’t getting one picture at all.”

Her contact sighed and pulled a small box from his coat.

“Here,” he sighed, downing another saucer of sake. “All you have to do is use a syringe and put it into your Kaa-san’s blood stream.”

Ino opened the box and seeing the vital, smirked. Resetting the box and tying string around it, she slid it into the backpack beside her.

“You know, I’m going to ask for other things besides the usual,” the man said. “Can you betray Konoha for me?”

“For you?” Ino snorted. “Fucking hell no. But for my mother, I’ll destroy the entire world for. Consider whatever you want done.”

The man raised his eyebrows and turned his attention to pouring more sake in his cup.

“That’s all I want Yamanaka-chan.” he smirked.

“Of course Maru-sama-chan.” Ino responded, walking out of the bar. The man shook his head as more sake went down his throat.

She was a strange one for sure, but he saw everything that no one else saw in her. He chuckled. How quickly would she snap? He just had to wait and see.

* * *

Ino dashed the last kilometre to Konoha and quickly scaled the wall with the rope she had set there during her escape. Waiting for two more minutes as the guards changed, Ino bit her lip.

Five. Ino dashed towards the rope.

Four. She launched off the ground and her hands grabbed the rope.

Three. Ino held her breath as the tired shinobi looked over his shoulder for the sound. He turned back to patrolling, thinking it was just some animal or bird.

Two. Ino shot up the rope, wrapping it around her arm as she tugged herself up.

One. She leaped over the wall, leaving only a small breeze in her wake.

Zero. Ino was free falling through the air and landed softly, barely any dirt misplaced. She dashed behind a tree, her back to the shinobi on the wall.

“Hey,” the shinobi who were previously on watch greeted their replacements. “You think someone’s in here?”

“You’re imagining it,” the other deadpanned. “You think someone would be dumb enough to climb the wall and get out of the village?”

“Look, we’ll just get an Inuzuka to come over and sniff around,” a female sighed. “We’re the last shift anyways.”

Ino sighed in relief and headed towards the hospital. Once she was clear of the walls, she leaped into the trees, feeling the familiar rush of adrenaline pump through her veins.

She landed on a branch, two windows from her mother’s room. She did the familiar jump and landed on the sill. The four year old almost fell to the ground, but quickly latched onto the window pane.

She breathed out. Just in time.

Quickly fumbling with the lock, Ino slid the window open and landed on the pristine tile floors lightly.

The lights were off and the blue glows the machines gave off was the only artificial light in the room.

“Hello Kaa-san,” Ino greeted, dancing around the machines easily. She had been in this room enough times to know what would happen if she made a single cord shift.

Ino’s mother was beautiful, even with sunken eyes, cheeks and an oxygen mask on her face. Ino had tried counting all the cords that were connected to her mother, but gave up after the twentieth. There were just too many.

“Kaa-san,” Ino said, setting her backpack down on the ground and pulling out the vital. “I got you a present. Happy anniversary.”

Then, pulling the empty syringe she hid under her mother’s heart monitor, Ino pulled the cork out of the vital and placed the syringe in the unknown liquid. Drawing the entire thing into the thin tube, Ino discarded the vital into the garbage across the room.

Ino made a small smile as she looked at her sleeping mother and in the moonlight, whatever was in the vital glowed lightly. Then, Ino looked at her mother’s neck, found the biggest vein she could that wouldn’t make her mother bleed out, and she quickly slid the needle into her mother’s neck.

“You won’t die Kaa-san,” Ino promised, and suddenly, she placed the liquid in her mother’s system. “I promise.”

Withdrawing the needle, Ino’s mother suddenly twitched. Ino’s eyes widened as the machines began to go wild, beeping erratically, screaming and a siren suddenly started somewhere in the hospital.

_ ‘Time to go.’ _ Ino thought, and sliding the window open, she disappeared into the night.

But not before watching a medic nin rush into the room to find out what was wrong.

* * *

A few days after her little… excursion, Ino was sitting at the bar in the clan’s main house, eating an omelette that her 12 year old cousin, Yamanaka Aozora, had created.

“Hey, your birthday’s coming up in a few days,” he commented from the kitchen. The brunette had the day off from his team, and Ino sighed. “What’cha want?”

Ino thought for a moment. Her clan still thought that she was that little girl and she mentally sighed. She would just have to gradually introduce them to her real personality.

“For Kaa-san to get better,” she exclaimed, putting on that fake smile that seemed perfectly real. “Then, we can bake a cake.” Inwardly, she grimaced at the tone. It sounded so fake, but Aozora seemed to think it was real.

“Well, maybe you and I can go and visit her with a cake,” Aozora suggested, looking at the clock. “Then, we’ll hold your birthday celebration.”

“Okie-dokie!” Ino agreed, finishing the omelet and standing up to leave. “I’m going for a walk to find some flowers for Kaa-san.”

“Okay Ino-chan,” Aozora smiled, watching the blonde girl leave. “Have a good time.”

* * *

Stuffing her hands into the pockets of her caprices, Ino began to weave her way through the civilian districts towards the flower shop her aunt owned.

“Ino-chan!” she gasped as soon as she noticed the blonde enter. “What-”

Ino headed towards the white flowers and kneeling down next to them, she began to select a small bouquet. Her aunt watch her do it until she placed the few flowers on the counter.

“Add it to my tab,” Ino requested and her aunt smiled at the blonde sadly. “I’ll pay you when Tou-san starts giving me an allowance.”

Chairono Kiko was Ino's aunt by her sister's side. She was 19 years old, had the brown hair of her sister and matching eyes. She was a part time medic at the hospital as well as a poisons expert, though she usually just worked at the Yamanaka Flower shop now.

She had told Ino stories of her and her sister's time before coming to Konohagakure, in which she spent in Kumogakure, or the Hidden Cloud. After the third Shinobi World War, both she and her sister moved to Konoha to build their parent village and Konoha's relationship.

Kiko had moved back to Kumo shortly before Ino’s parents were married and had quickly returned after her older sister was hospitalized. Their brother had also shown his face for a while, but quickly returned home to attempt to find a cure for his twin.

Kiko had taken over the Flower shop until Noriko had been cured. So , she wrote down the price down on a small pad of paper and watched her niece walk out of the shop with the small bundle. It was sad really. Ino had lost her mother at a small age and had still not made a single friend.

Snapped out of her musings, someone walked into the shop.

“Hatake-san?” Kiko asked, looking at the man who Ino had told her saved her older sister. “What are you doing here?”

“Chairono-san,” Kakashi greeted and began to browse the flowers. “Is your sister out of the hospital yet?”

“No,” Kiko sighed. “That little girl you saw is my niece. She devastated.”

“I bet,” Kakashi agreed. “Isn’t that her daughter?”

Kiko bit her lip as she watched Kakashi choose the flowers for his team’s graves.

“Well?” Kakashi asked, looking at Kiko with his lone eye. “Isn’t she?”

“Yeah,” Kiko finally confirmed. “I can’t believe what she has to go through. I mean, Ino-chan never even got to know her all that well and now she’s bringing flowers and visiting her every day.”

Kakashi turned to look at the door that Ino had gone out just before he had arrived. She was the girl who had brought him to the back room to help her mother.

_ ‘Yamanaka Ino.’ _ he thought as he paid for the flowers and left the shop.

* * *

Ino hated her birthday.

Not only was it the day that her mother got hospitalized, it was also fairly useless in her opinion. Who would want to celebrate their birthday when they had so many better things to do? Her father wasn’t there. He was still working or if Ino had to take a guess, with her Kaa-san at the hospital for her one year anniversary.

“This is stupid.” Ino repeated.

Aozora gritted his teeth as he began to remove his dirty ninja clothing and placed his headband on the dresser. He had a terrible morning training and to top it all off, Ino was whining about how stupid her birthday was. Aozora whirled around to face his baby cousin but Ino just looked at her with that unnerving eye of her’s.

“The bathroom’s ready for you, if you want it,” Ino supplied, suddenly cleaning up Aozora’s things and depositing them in the hamper. “I left a clean towel and several new products that Oba-sama gave me.”

Aozora gritted his teeth again, but stormed out of his room in the Main House(someone had to keep an eye on Ino) to go to the bathroom.

Ino watched him go and she began to leave the room. Stepping through the sliding door into the hallway, Ino was greeted by silence.

Ino liked silence. It meant she could do whatever she wished, whenever she wished. But that wasn’t the truth today.

Yamanaka ninja were rushing around, preparing the day for their future leader’s birthday. What that meant was that Ino wasn’t able sneak out of the compound to visit her parents, or Riko.

Sitting next to the pond in her yard, Ino could only kick her legs in boredom. No one was around who she could torment, so she instead played with the ends of her hair.

“Ino-sama,” a soft voice greeted and Ino turned to look at Yamanaka Mai, a distant relative. “Happy birthday.”

“Hm?” Ino hummed. “Oh, thanks Mai-chan. Say, how’s the planning going. Tamashi-san won’t let me look.”

“It’s going well, Ino-sama.” Mai said, making Ino sigh.

“That’s good, Mai-chan,” Ino murmured, watching the clouds roll across the sky.

* * *

The birthday celebration was boring to Ino. She had decided to skip the discussion time, instead choosing to spend it up on the roof.

“Ino-sama!” one of the guards exclaimed, rushing up to her. “Where were you? Everyone has been worried.”

“I don’t wanna celebrate,” Ino hissed, glaring at the setting sun. “I wanna go and visit Kaa-san.”

The jounin sighed. This girl was a nightmare sometimes. Was she a multi-personality? “Ino-sama,” he sighed. “Your father is waiting for you to come and join the birthday celebrations.”

Ino tch’ed, but leapt off the roof. She was caught by the jounin, who safely deposited her on the ground.

Leaving the jounin behind, Ino began to walk towards the party. She really didn’t feel like spending time with anyone, instead wanting to spend more time in the Hokage’s private library. How she got in there was beyond anyone, but no one knew.

“Happy birthday, Yamanaka-san.” someone exclaimed, rushing up to the blonde. She was greeted by a black haired boy with a bird’s tail at the back of his head.

“Who are you?” Ino asked, looking at the boy questionably.

“I’m Uchiha Sasuke!” the boy exclaimed, bounding with excitement. “Nii-san also says happy birthday!” Nodding once, Ino tried to leave the boy, but he grabbed her wrist. “Why are you acting like Kaa-san and Otou-sama?” he asked.

Ino didn’t bother to respond, instead looking at the boy again.

“Uchiha-san,” she began. “My Kaa-san never taught me this, but she always said to act older than you are because that way, you get more out of life.”

Sasuke blinked. “Your Kaa-san sounds really smart.” Sasuke mumbled wistfully.

“Yeah, she is.” Ino agreed.

“Uchiha-kun!” a new person exclaimed, bounding up to the ravonette. “C’mon! They have a- Oh. Hi!” This person was a wild person, Ino realized. He had the look of an Inuzuka, but he still had no face tattoos.

“Ototo, you can’t just run off like that,” a boy scolded, though it lost it touch with the stress lines. “Kaa-san would have been worried.”

“No kidding,” a girl agreed. “Ototo, you can’t run off. I get that we’re wild animals sometimes, but that doesn’t mean that you’re allowed to be one too.”

“Hai, hai, Hana-nee-chan,” the wild boy said, waving off the concern. “But Uchiha-kun just ran off!”

“There you guys are,” a irritated voice sighed. “We were wondering where you ran off to.”

“I found Yamanaka-san!” Sasuke exclaimed and glared at the wild boy heatedly. “It’s her birthday party!”

Suddenly, every pair of eyes were on Ino, and every one of these people were giving her happy birthdays.

“Thank you,” Ino bowed as soon as they were all finished. “Now, I’m going to find Otou-sama.” With one last, quick bow, Ino ran off, disappearing into the crowd of people.

“... What a strange girl,” Itachi commented and looked at Hana. “Have you ever met her before?”

“Nope,” Hana shook her head. “I’m wondering where she learned to be so polite.”

“Is it really all that important, Nii-san?” Sasuke asked, tugging on his big brother’s sleeve.

“Not really, Ototo,” Itachi dispersed. “It’s just that Yamanaka-san is really odd.”

Everyone looked the way she went, all wondering exactly what happened.

“S-So, ho-how odd i-is s-she?” Hyuga Hinata stuttered.

Itachi and Hana shared a look and then looked down at all the young children. “Yamanaka-san is odd enough to be conspiring with a missing ninja and we wouldn’t even know it.” Itachi announced.


	3. Five and a Half

On April 1st, Ino went to the ninja academy, and dammit, she hated it. It didn’t help that for the last week, her father had been at home, watching her like a hawk. He even taught her some torture techniques, which she wouldn’t hesitate on using on a teacher.

Leaning backwards so she was in a sleepy position, Ino sighed again.

She was smart today, but if people looked closely enough, that bracelet on her wrist wasn’t a bracelet. It was a snake that was trying to move discreetly enough to get up into her sleeve. Ino was tempted to just pull him off her wrist and into her pocket, but that would mean she’d have a snake in her shirt.

Stuffing her hands into her pockets as the Third Hokage announced that they would take a tour of the school, Ino stood up and followed the crowd. She noticed that the boys that her father had tried to make her befriend were there, in the middle of the group.

What were their names again? Akamunchie? Akamunch? Akimun? Akimichi? Yeah, that was it. Akimichi Choji. And his best friend, some Nara boy. She didn’t bother learning past his last name because he usually just slept through their ‘meetings’.

Ducking inside an empty classroom, Ino watched the snake uncurl and sit up in her palm.

“Massster’sss wondering where you were,” the snake hissed. “He wasss waiting for two hoursss but you didn’t ssshow. Why?”

“Yeah, I get it,” Ino replied quickly, looking out of the door, looking for the teacher. Some guy called Dolphin? She didn’t care. “My father and clan have been watching me like hawks for the past week, so I don’t skip this. I was planning on it, but my dad made me sleep with him.”

The snake began to laugh.

“Shut up,” Ino commanded. “Look, tell him to change the dates. I’ll try to make it this time.”

The snake nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Ino to explore the Ninja Academy by herself.

After ten minutes, she had discovered more than the teachers would have shown them, even refinding her group in her future classroom. She decided to explore the room at a later date.

So, Ino ended up on the roof.

“And here we have the-” she heard Iruka begin to introduce then noticed her. “-Oh, who are you?”

Ino turned and smiled at him brightly. “I’m Yamanaka Ino! I got lost and I kinda found my way up here.”

Iruka smiled and patted her head, smiling at her happily. “Well, okay Yamanaka-san. Stay with the group from now on, okay?”

She gave him a nod, and Iruka continued on his introduction.

Naruto stared at the new girl, her bright blue eyes, her short platinum blonde hair near her chin and that bright smile on her face. As he watched, she began to slowly inch away from their new teacher, Iruka-sensei, moving closer and closer to the back of the group, close to him. The smile that was on her face had slowly dropped off, and a cold facade appeared. Eventually, she was standing right next to him.

“Stop staring,” she requested. “I’m not that special.”

Quickly, Naruto snapped his gaze away. “Sorry, Yamanaka-san.” he apologized softly. The sound of gritting teeth made him snap his gaze up to her face. Her face was dark and she had the same aura as the adults of the village.

“Don’t call me that,” Ino growled softly. “Never call me Yamanaka. Never use my last name.”

Naruto stared at her. Then what was he supposed to call her? Ino-san?

“Then, what am I supposed to call you?” he asked, ducking his head down.

“Idiot,” Ino shot at him. “You’re supposed to call me Ino-chan.”

Naruto’s gaze shot to her, his eyes wide. Ino tilted her head to the side, looking at him. Then, she smirked.

“Uzumaki-san, you look like a fox, but you sure don’t act like one,” she commented, making Naruto blushed red. “Foxes are supposed to be sly and sneaky, but you can’t even lie to save your life.” Ino pouted. “We need to fix that.”

“Huh?” Naruto gasped, staring at her. What on earth was-

“C’mon,” Ino sighed, placing her hands behind her head and following the rest of their class. “I kinda wanna figure out what’s going on, and why you ain’t acting like a fox. I mean, Uchiha-san looks like a raven, and he acts like it. Aburame-san looks like a freaking bug, and he acts like one too!”

She continued to rant, leaving Naruto staring after her in amazement. Just who was this crazy girl?

* * *

Ino walked along a water fountain edge a week after the Academy had begun, just watching it stream out of the jets and into the small basin. The water ripple towards the edge. She had just been watching it when she heard it.

“Billboard Brow!” someone cackled. “What’s wrong? Something happen to you?”

Ino sighed. She knew those girls. Whenever they went to a family gathering, they would always try to destroy her by calling her pig. They also did it in school.

She turned to look where they were and sighed. This sucked.

“Oi,” she called, walking up to them with her normal fake smile plastered on. “Whatcha doing?”

“Nothing Buta-chan,” the leader, Uchiha Shurui hissed. “Just trying to make a new friend.”

Ino scoffed, rolling her eyes. “That’s how you make a new friend? As if.” And then her smile took a slightly crooked and dark twist. “You know, I could tell your Kaa-san. I wonder what they would do to you if I told them that you were bullying a civilian.” Shurui’s eyes widened as Ino continued in her sing-songy voice. “Maybe she won’t let you go to the Academy next term~”

“Okay!” Shurui exclaimed, a fearful look overtaking her. The other girls looked at Ino with fearful eyes. “We’ll stop!” Ino smiled, watching them run away with satisfaction.

She was about to leave when she heard a sniffle and remembered the entire reason she even sent Shurui away. So she turned around, walked up to the girl and squatted in front of her.

The girl in front of her was cute, Ino couldn’t argue with that, but it was all destroyed from her tears. It was also the first time Ino had ever met someone with pink hair, and that did not include when Anko decided it was time for a change in her hair colour and dyed it bright, neon pink. Ino actually liked her violet colour.

Popping a fist into her hand, Ino realized who this girl was. She was that civilian from class! That everyone always teased because her ‘big forehead’. Who didn’t have a big forehead?

“You’re always being called ‘Billboard Brow’ and being picked on.” Ino sighed as she watched the girl. 

The girl looked up from behind her arms, tears streaming down her face. “W-who are you?” the girl hiccuped.

“I’m Yamanaka Ino,” Ino introduced. “What about you?”

“I’m…” the rest Ino couldn’t hear.

“Eh?” Ino asked. “I can’t hear you. Say it louder?”

“My name is Haruno Sakura!” the girl exclaimed and Ino snorted lightly. The blonde reached out to touch her forehead, which was covered by Sakura’s bangs.

“Huh,” Ino said. “I see. You have a wide forehead, so, Billboard Brow, huh?” Sakura was about to burst out sobbing again, her lower lip quivering when Ino pushed her bangs back. “That’s why you hide your forehead with your bangs. Like a ghost.” Sakura’s lip quivered, her hands moving towards her eyes. Ino smiled kindly. “Sakura, was it?”

“Uh-huh.” Sakura confirmed.

Ino straightened and started to walk away. “Come back here tomorrow! I’ll give you something nice!”

“Huh?” Sakura asked, her watery eyes on break.

When Ino was sure she was out of sight, she began to run towards the Yamanaka compound. She ran through the door, up the stairs and into her room, and quickly began to rifle through her ‘girly’ kit.

Sometimes, she just had to look the part.

Finally finding whatever she was looking for, Ino smiled.

* * *

The next day, Ino stood there waiting for the pink haired girl called Sakura to show up. The present was in her pocket, ready to be given.

“Um, Ino-chan?” Sakura asked, timidly walking up to the blonde.

“There you are!” Ino exclaimed, dashing so she was in front of her. Sakura jumped, shock and fear rippling through her jade green eyes. “Now, I want you to close your eyes, and until I say you can open them, you aren’t allowed to even peep. Got it?”

“O-Okay,” Sakura stuttered, slightly shocked at Ino demanding attitude.

A soft smile graced Ino’s lips as Sakura closed her eyes tightly and covered them with her hands, making sure she wouldn’t be able to see. How adorable.

Tying the finishing knot in the gift, Ino backed away so that she could see her handiwork.

“Okay Sakura-chan,” Ino sang. “You can open your eyes now!”

Slowly, the pink haired girl’s eyes opened and when Ino led her to the small mirror she hid there an hour previously, her eyes widened. Ino replaced the mirror after Sakura saw her reflection and smiled at her brightly.

“See?” she asked. “You look cuter this way Sakura! I’ll give you that ribbon.”

“Th-Thanks,” Sakura thanked, clenching her hands to her chest. “But…”

“But what?” Ino asked, genuinely confused.

“My forehead…” Sakura began, but Ino sighed.

“Look, the more you try to hide it, the more likely someone will make fun of it!” Ino explained. “You have a cute face, Sakura-chan. You should be more confident!” Then, a bright idea struck Ino.

She had her own group of… friends from the clans. Why not introduce Sakura to them?

“C’mon,” Ino said, grabbing Sakura’s wrist and leading her towards the place where they usually met. “I want you to meet some people!”

“Huh?” Sakura asked as she was dragged along. “I-Ino-chan!”

Slowing down when she came near the place, Ino smiled brightly at the girl behind her.

“C’mon Sakura-chan,” she urged. “If you get more friends, then you’ll be more confident!”

So, together, they walked up to the group of three girls, Ino smiling kindly at them and Sakura just timidly following her.

Ino sighed again. What kind of world did she grow up in anyways?

“Hey Ino-san!” one of the girls greeted, looking at Ino and Sakura. “Who’s that?”

“Yeah, who is that that you’re with?” another agreed.

Ino looked at them, smiling. The one who she liked the most was Uchiha Riko, but Inuzuka Akane and Kaiya Sora were cool too. These were Ino’s… friends, and she hoped that they would become Sakura’s friends as well.

“This is Sakura,” Ino announced. “Well?” she asked after she waited for Sakura to greet them. “Say hello!”

Sakura instead moved so she was behind the blonde. “H-Hi.” she greeted timidly, making Ino sigh internally. This was going to take a while.


	4. Sixth

“Iruka-sensei,” Ino called as soon as all the students had disappeared from the class after school. “Is it okay for me to be friends with Uzumaki-san?”

Freezing, Iruka stopped washing off the blackboard to turn and look at the unnaturally blonde girl in his class. He had to admit, she didn’t try all that hard but she did make it fairly high in the class. Close to Uchiha Sasuke.

Yamanaka Ino was an enigma in his class. Once a month she would disappear off the face of the earth for three days, always randomly placed. Iruka didn’t complain because she always seemed to have all the work finished, but she was odd.

He turned to face her. The blonde had her chin resting in the palm of her hand, which was propped up on her desk. Her blonde hair was brushing over her shoulders and her sky blue eyes were curious, but as cold as ice.

“O-Of course, Ino-san,” Iruka stuttered. “But why do you ask?”

“Because if I do befriend Uzumaki-san, will the rest of the village hate me too?”

Iruka stared at the blonde in shock. “Excuse me?”

“I’m not repeating it~” Ino sang, swinging her finger back and forth like a conductor. “But seriously, why does the village despise Uzumaki-san so much?”

Iruka bit his lip. Should he answer? Should he not? He’s been sworn to secrecy!

“Ah, whatever,” Ino sighed, standing up to leave. “It doesn’t matter. Just tell me yes or no. Well, either way, I’m going to do it. I just want your blessing.”

“HUH? Ino- what-who-how?”

“See ya later, Sensei,” Ino called over her shoulder, leaving her bewildered teacher away. “I’ll see you on Monday!”

Iruka was silent for a few moments, going over the things in his mind. Then, what she had really said sank in.

“Whoever can put up with that kid is a god.” he muttered, going back to cleaning the board.

Somewhere in Konoha, Yamanaka Aozora sneezed.

* * *

“Hello Uzumaki-san~!” Ino sang as she skipped towards the boy the next day.

“I-Ino-chan?” he stuttered, staring at the blonde in shock. “Wh-what’s going-what-?”

Ino snickered and grabbed his cheeks in a harsh pinching hold. “You’re adorable, Uzumaki-san. I just want to eat you~”

Naruto stared at the girl for several moments then launched away from her, along with the server pinching. “W-WHAT?”

“Awe, it’s okay, Uzumaki-san,” Ino giggled, patting his head. “I’m just joking. I’m no cannibal. Plus, with all the negative feelings your exerting, I wouldn’t want to eat you. You’d taste terrible.”

Naruto’s eyes widened slightly and he edged away from the blonde girl named Yamanaka Ino. She scared him. Worse than any of the adults in the village, and he couldn’t even explain why.

“Anyway, I have a bunch of stuff around her,” Ino continued, pulling him along. “And you know what we’re going to do today?”

“Um, buy food?” Naruto asked, a bit timidly.

“Oh, I’ll get you groceries later,” Ino waved off. “I stalked you for a week, so I know practically everything important about you.”

Naruto froze. This girl was getting more terrifying with every second.

“Instead, we’re going to spray paint the Hokage mountain,” Ino announced, pulling out a plastic bag full of spray paint, brushes and a whole bunch of other scary things. “That’s a fox’s work.”

“I-Ino-san!” Naruto exclaimed, racing after her. “What-”

“C’mon Uzumaki-san!” she exclaimed, walking towards the cliff. “We’ll have fun!”

“No, we won’t!” Naruto disagreed, racing after the blonde.

* * *

In the end, Naruto watched from a distance as Ino graffitied the rock faces in broad daylight. She ended up spraying a jounin in the eyes with spray paint and sprayed another with pepper spray.

Naruto stared at her as grabbed his wrist and dragged him along, her paint covered skin, practically a rainbow. Her hair had a giant, green spot in there and Naruto swore he saw cherry red covering half her face.

“C’mon Uzumaki-san!” she shouted as they landed in the streets and took off at a full sprint. “I’m going to teach you the meaning of adrenaline!”

She placed the brush that was in her right hand into her mouth and she pulled out a can of bright red spray paint. She shook it as they ran, Naruto’s ocean blue eyes wide in terror.

A tall, purple haired jounin appeared in front of them, but Ino released Naruto’s arm as she slid between the woman’s legs and spraying her ankles. Naruto shot after the blonde, both sprinting.

Ino drew another can of paint, this time purple. She shook it quickly, dodging civilians along with Naruto.

“Yamanaka-san!” a shinobi shouted, but Ino didn’t look behind her. Winking at Naruto, she shooed him on.

She whipped around, spraying the man in the eyes and quickly ducked into the same alley as Naruto.

“Go, go, go!” she hissed excitedly. So, Naruto took off, weaving through the alleys of Konoha, leading Ino through them quickly. She disappeared for a few moments, only to reappear covered head to toe in bright orange paint.

Naruto had never been more awed and shocked in his entire life.

* * *

Ino was talking with her friends when Sakura dashed up to them, a grin etched onto her face.

“Listen everyone! Listen!” Sakura exclaimed, running up to their group. “I like someone, and you won’t believe who it is!”

“Hurry up and tell us!” Inuzuka Akane asked.

“Yeah, just don’t say it’s Sasuke.” Kaiya Sora ordered.

“Huh?” Sakura asked confused. “How’d you know?”

“Pu-lease,” Sora said, rolling her eyes. “Sasuke’s the most popular person in the grade. Like, really popular!”

“Huh?” Sakura asked. “Guess I have a lot of competition.”

“Whoa, what a change,” Riko commented. “Sakura’s really come out of her shell, hasn’t she?”

Ino instead gritted her teeth and looked away from Akane and Sora giving Sakura tips on how to approach Sasuke.

“Sometimes, I wish she’d just get back in it.” Ino growled.

“Hmm?” Riko asked, looking at the blonde. “Did you say something Ino-chan?”

“Whatever,” Ino said, looking at the setting sun. She had to get going. “I have to go. See ya.” And with that, Ino began to walk towards the hospital.

Riko watched her leave, a little confused. Shrugging, she went to join Akane, Sora and Sakura. She laughed as Sakura blushed.

* * *

Ino swung her legs back and forth on a tree branch, somewhere in Kusagakure, waiting for her contact to show up.

“You’re early,” a surprised voice exclaimed in surprise. “I’m shocked.”

“You’re mean,” Ino pouted, looking over at the disguised man. “Not to mention rude. I’ve been waiting for half an hour.”

The man chuckled good naturedly, and Ino cracked a smile.

“I got the scroll you wanted,” Ino announced, and she dropped in down. She didn’t hear it touch the ground, so she assumed that it was caught by the man. “Now it’s your turn.”

Something shot through the leaves of the tree, letting her stick her arm out to catch it. It was another small box, not unlike the ones he’s been giving her for the past year.

“Should cure her, if what the last sample has told me,” the man explained, unnaturally serious. “I hope it does.”

“...I thought that you would have made a dose of this, not the entire cure,” Ino admitted. “Keep me loyal.”

“Oh?”

They sat in silence for two hours, watching the sky change. It was white and then dark blue and finally, Ino spotted the colours of the beginning of the rising sun.

“I should go,” she admitted, standing up. “I owe Sakura-chan and Uzumaki-kun some quality time together.”

“Hmm?” the man asked. “Uzumaki Naruto?”

“Yeah,” Ino confirmed, then looked at him. “You know of him?”

“Of course I do,” the man sighed. “You’ll discover it one day, Ino-san.”

Ino smiled. “Yeah, although, I have a pretty good feeling what it is.”

She disappeared in a wisp of air, and the man sighed again. How much longer? It wouldn’t be long.

* * *

Ino sat in her classroom the next week, staring at the board in boredom. This was the one subject she would never get. History.

Why would people need to know the past? So that they wouldn’t repeat it?

As if. People repeat everything they see or they’ll do whatever they could to avoid it. She knew that people had contacted the underworld and yet, she was doing the same. What was so bad about it?

“Ino-chan!” Iruka exclaimed, making her perk up. “What happened during the Warring Era?”

“Um, I’m assuming wars. Lots of them.” Ino guessed and the class ended up giggling.

Naruto laughed with them, but softer than everyone else. He didn’t want Ino to hate him.

“Well, if it’s called the Warring Era, doesn’t that mean that there was a bunch of wars going on?” Ino cried and Naruto bit his lip.

“Ino-chan,” Iruka growled and the class continued to laugh. “I know you read the textbook, so tell me. What happened during the Warring Era?”

“Lots of wars!”

Sakura giggled helplessly as Ino exclaimed, once again, what happened during the Warring Era. The blonde was hilarious, and many of the other students thought so as well. She said what she had on her mind and it was as if she had no filter between her mind and mouth.

The bell rang and Iruka’s face became a red balloon. Ino stared at him as if he was crazy, and she knew that she was right. She also looked at everyone wondering why they were laughing.

“Please,” Iruka ground out. “Take out your math homework. We’ll begin the math work and Ino, detention after school.”

Ino pouted, crossed her arms and glared at the chalkboard behind Iruka.

* * *

Leaning back in her chair, Ino stared out the window, waiting for Iruka to return and begin her detention. She pouted again.

She gave an answer, and Umino Iruka said there were no wrong answers, and yet, she was wrong. How does that work?

“Here,” Iruka sighed, giving her a huge pile of papers. “When you finish those, you can go home.”

He then left the room, expecting Ino to be a perfect princess and just finish all the work then leave. She scoffed as she went through the 15 or so, all double sided, papers in front of her.

She instead grabbed the papers and made a mad dash for the window and launched out of it. Landing on the soft soil under the window, she sighed as she stuffed the papers into her bag. She had to spend some quality time with Sakura now.

* * *

“Ino-chan!” Sakura screamed, jumping as the blonde landed next to her from the sky, twigs, leaves and a bunch of weeds were stuck in her hair and scratches littered her skin. She had a large scratch next to her eye, one that Sakura couldn’t help but worry about.

“Hey Sakura-chan,” Ino greeted, pulling a thorn from her arm messily. “I’m starting to think that running through the rose bushes outside of the school is a bad idea.”

Sakura gave her best friend an incredulous look.

“Seriously?” she exclaimed. Sometimes, she wondered just what Yamanaka Ino was. She shook her head. “Wait, Ino-chan, shouldn’t you be in detention?”

Ino blinked just as if she just realized that.

“Oh, I ditched.”

* * *

Iruka had forgotten something in his classroom, and he had to check on Ino anyways.

He walked in, looking for the blonde, only to notice her bag, her and the work were long gone. All that was left was an open window.

“YAMANAKA INO!” he screamed and it rattled the windows.

* * *

“So, what’s up?”

“... DON’T SAY THAT SO NONCHALANTLY!” Sakura screamed, catching the attention of Uchiha Sasuke who was passing by. He gave the two girls a weird look, but continued on his way.

Ino then just realized something.

“UCHIHA-SAN!” she exclaimed, getting up and racing after the boy. “IF I BLACKMAIL YOU AGAIN, WILL YOU DO MY DETENTION HOMEWORK?”

Sakura once again stared at the blonde girl with shock. Sasuke froze, looked over his shoulder and suddenly shot down the road, trying to get away from her best friend.

“HEY!” Ino shouted, throwing her arms wide. She stopped in the middle of the dirt road, staring at the Uchiha angrily. “The last time was validated!”

“Ino?” Sakura began, giving her best friend a flat stare. “I think he’s running away.”

Ino pouted and returned to the pinkette. Then, she seemed to get an idea.

“Hey Sakura-” she began.

“Don’t even think about it.”

* * *

Her sixth birthday was a small occasion, a weekend after her actual birthday. She had only invited Sakura, Riko, Sora, Akane, Shikamaru and Choji, Naruto having declined her invitation a week ago. He said he didn’t want her to be seen with him in fear of rejectment.

Ino promised to celebrate it with him a few days later.

As she laid in her bed, she stared at the rainbow catcher that Aozora gave her bouncing the early sun’s light through her room. She had woken up at dawn, trying to think of ways to save her mother.

Down in the living room, Riko, Akane and Sakura slept peacefully. Aozora was sleeping a few rooms over and Ino was alone.

She finally broke down.


	5. Seventh

Ino hated being in her classroom, full of inexperienced children who are there just to be cool and brag to their friends. The only reason she was still around was because of Sakura.

The young girl was coming out of her shell more and more, trying to become the person that Ino had tried to make her for the past year. It was a difficult process, but Ino was stubborn enough to make her do it.

“Hey Sakura-chan,” Ino drawled. “Will you help me with my homework again?”

“Sure,” Sakura sighed. “Of course, I don’t see why you would want to, considering your smarter than me.”

Ino gave her best friend a pout. She wasn’t smarter than Sakura, only when it came to flowers, and the only reason was because of her aunt.

Riko had dropped out of the Ninja Academy, saying that her parents wanted her to continue with the family tradition of blacksmith. Sure, she was an Uchiha, but that didn’t mean anything. Her family was civilian, so it wasn’t surprising that her parents made her drop it.

Akane was in Year 2, one grade above Ino and Sakura, who were in Year 1. Sora had moved to Kumogakure three months ago, but they all still kept in touch. Shikamaru and Choji were both in Class C, which wasn’t surprising.

“Aw, c’mon Sakura-chan!” Ino begged as the pinkette dragged her away from the candy store. “Just some Pocky?”

“NO!” Sakura exclaimed once again. “How are you supposed to stay in shape if you’re eating junk food?”

“By exercise!” Ino defended.

“I’m home!” Sakura shouted as she dragged Ino into her home, dragging Ino along. She swore, this Yamanaka would be failing if it wasn’t for Aozora and herself.

“Sorry for intruding!” Ino called out cheerily, her shoes off and this time dragging Sakura along instead. The pinkette quickly released the girl. “You got any snacks Haruno-san?”

Sakura’s mother stuck her head outside the door of the kitchen and smiled at Sakura.

“Ino-chan’s here again?” she asked as Ino plucked an apple from the fruit basket and headed towards Sakura’s room on the second floor. “I thought she said that she was supposed to go to Kumo today.”

“Apparently, her uncle’s coming later,” Sakura explained. “He also said he was going to meet her in Takigakure. They’re going to go flower hunting.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t understand it either,” Sakura sighed and walked into the kitchen. She grabbed two cookies, both for Ino, and a bunch of fruit. “But Ino-chan’s going to pluck seeds with him. Said it would take a week and she’d celebrate her birthday later.”

Haruno Mebuki sighed. Sometimes, Yamanaka Ino was a blessing but also incredibly annoying. She was also trying to convince Sakura to eat more. It was just her daughter and Ino was amazing.

Now that she thought about it, she still had yet to meet Ino’s parents.

* * *

Ino glared at the stars, annoyed.

She had spent the last two days picking seeds, proof of her uncle’s involvement. She did have an uncle, he and her father just didn’t talk. They hated each other for whatever reason.

She had been camping out in the forest, sleeping in a tree with enough food to last her a month. She didn’t eat it all, but she did eat when she got hungry. She literally had no track of time, but Aozora knew she was here.

“Yamanaka-chan, you’re early,” her contact admitted. “That’s shocking.”

“I’m always early!”

The man shook his head. “Do you know my name, Yamanaka-chan?”

Ino blinked. “Of course,” she confirmed. “Your name is Orochimaru, but I don’t know your last name. I don’t think you even have one.”

“What’s my rank?”

“Sannin? S-class missing nin.” Ino asked.

Orochimaru sighed. This girl…

“I have a DNA sample of the Uchiha,” Ino announced and Orochimaru’s head shot up. She had what? How?

“Not that hard,” she admitted. “Blackmailed an Uchiha into doing my homework for me and I had a friend in the Academy. She dropped out though.”

Orochimaru stared at her.

“... Kaa-san’s not getting better,” Ino murmured, pulling her knees to her chest. She still had yet to see Orochimaru’s face, but she didn’t care. The best she had was the bingo book, but she didn’t care. He was helping her mother. “You’re cure didn’t work.”

“What?” Orochimaru demanded, looking over to the girl shocked. “But-”

Ino interrupted him. “Whatever it was, it made her slightly better, but she’s already getting immune.”

Orochimaru looked at the poor, seven year old girl sadly. What she was going through, no one should.

“Ino-san.” he murmured sadly. He was feeling odd. This wasn’t an act, unlike so many other people.

“It’s not like you could do anything,” Ino sighed. “I can’t believe I forgot that she was a Chairono. Damn their immune system.”

“Technically, you’re a Chairono too,” Orochimaru pointed. “If they were mixed with a Uchiha, they would be unstoppable.”

Ino blinked then stuffed her head into her hands.

The moon rose over them and frogs croaked in the distance. It was interesting to listen to the nature for hours.

“Maru-sama-chan,” she murmured, and Orochimaru’s head snapped to her. “You know what kind of stress this does to a Yamanaka mind. I gave you the documented cases. How much longer do you think…”

Orochimaru stared at the girl in horror. She was right. How much longer until she exploded?

* * *

Ino woke to the smell of blood. It was faint, but it was still there.

Climbing out of bed, she quickly changed into a black sweater and matching leggings. She crept past Aozora’s room and slipped her sandals on. She took off, running at full speed.

Orochimaru had asked what would happen if he injected her with something and the result was a day of unconsciousness due to pain and waking up with annoyingly heightened senses. She wasn’t up there with an Inuzuka, but she could smell specific elements. When she smelled blood, she smelled iron, hydrogen and a little bit of oxygen.

Orochimaru said it would disappear in a few years if she didn’t continue using it, but she said she wanted a milder dose.

She ended up at the Uchiha compound, staring up the stone wall. She couldn’t understand why someone would voluntarily live in that place, but she also saw how they all moved around so it was homey. Much more than the Yamanaka Compound.

She shot up the wall, landing on the ground immediately.

She nearly screamed from the oncoming waves of pain. That’s what she felt. All the pain of dying. She took several deep breaths, adapting to the waves of pain.

“Riko-chan!” Ino suddenly exclaimed, her eyes opening and for the first time saw the state the Uchiha Compound was in. It immediately erased the calm Ino had established over herself and her blue eyes widened.

“Pl-please,” a faint voice croaked, and Ino immediately dashed over to where the voice was. A young woman, obviously pregnant. “I’m a medical nin,” she explained. “I’m-I’m in labor and he-he made sure to avoid the stomach area! Pl-please!” She held out a sharp knife.

Ino then realized what she wanted.

She took the knife, and then with the woman’s directions, she cut her open. It became autopilot, killing the woman while saving the Uchiha baby’s life. Blood covered her face, arms, body but Ino had lost… no detached herself from her emotions.

The baby was healthy, a bit on the small side though. She wrapped it in her sweater, a black tee shirt underneath. That woman died holding her baby boy.

Ino left them, promising to return as the baby felt his mother lose feeling. She did catch the name though. Uchiha Heiwa.

She walked through the corpses, long dead. She killed another woman, a young boy, an old man. She reached Riko’s house and there, on the doorstep, was Riko’s parents. Uchiha Satoshi and Uchiha Yukino, both long dead. Ino merely shoved them out of the way and shoved the door open.

In the sitting room, Riko’s bothers hang, one having a katana through his heart and the other stabbed through the wall with kunai. Ino didn’t gag, she only licked her lips, a sense of foreboding filling her stomach.

A scream filled the air and Ino quickly rushed to the kitchen. There, her friend lay a man standing over her with a katana.

“... Uchiha-san.” Ino announced, her voice devoid of any emotion.

Itachi stared at the blonde in shock, eyes wide. He composed himself.

“Yamanaka-sama.” he returned curtly.

“... I see that you’re entering a dangerous game,” Ino stated. “What do you think you were doing?”

Itachi leaned back, suddenly fearful. The girl emitted a dangerous aura, not unlike Madara. Only, it was more… foreboding. Wait, wasn’t this girl in Sasuke’s class? She was seven!

“None of your concern, Yamanaka-sama.” he growled. Ino’s feet crashed against the wood of the kitchen, making him jump.

“Why?” she growled. “Why are you doing this?”

Itachi glared down at her. She was dangerous.

“I was simply tired of playing the game,” he returned, sheathing his Tonto. “Aren’t you?”

“What game?” Ino shot back, taking another step.

Itachi looked at her. Sasuke was unconscious and most of the clan was dead, thanks to Madara. Suddenly, he looked up at her with tear filled eyes.

“I’m sorry, Yamanaka-sama.” he apologized and Ino leapt back. His eyes swirled into a pinwheel and Ino couldn’t help but get sucked into the hypnotizing stare.

**_Ino laughed with Akane, giggling as Riko sneezed again. The three girls had just discovered that Riko was allergic to flowers, sneezing at every turn._ **

**_Sakura had skipped out because she wanted to study for the upcoming test. Either that, or she wanted to stalk Sasuke. Both worked for Ino, as it gave her time to spend with Akane and Riko alone._ **

**_She danced around customers, replacing flowers on display and laughing as Akane practically shoved Riko into a bouquet of lilies._ **

**_Hatake-san was there, and he raised an eyebrow at the three girl’s antics. He, however, shook his head as he paid the total and was handed the change by Riko. She was glaring at Akane angrily._ **

**_Suddenly, Uchiha Itachi entered the store, a tall woman beside him. His mother._ **

**_Ino suddenly froze. This was a memory. It never happened._ **

**_She disappeared through the wall, turning every way she could. People had changed their faces. First it was Sakura, glaring at her. Then her father. Her mother. Kiko-oba-san. Naruto. Akane. Riko. Shikamaru! Choji!_ **

**_Suddenly, their faces contorted into pain and a blade was shoved through their hearts._ **

**_“No! No! No!” Ino screamed, clutching her head as everyone she ever met, cared for, loved, was cut down._ **

**_“Make it stop!” she begged. “Make it all stop!”_ **

Ino’s eyes shot open and she looked over to Riko. Shakily, she sat up and cautiously touched the Uchiha’s arm.

Cold. Pale. Blood.

Ino gathered her best friend up in her arms, sobbing into sword wound. She cried and cried, begging for Riko to return. Then, she threw her head back and she screamed.

Windows cracked.

The wind flew Konohagakure as many people woke up.

Still, the blonde continued screaming in her rage.

* * *

Ino made her way back to her entrance of over the wall, looking for Heiwa and his dead mother. ANBU had come and Ino had somehow avoided them all, making her way home.

She grabbed the small bundle and stared down at the new life. He didn’t cry, but he wasn’t dead like the rest of his clan.

“Kiko-ba-san will take good care of you,” Ino told the baby and he gargled in his sleep. “She always wanted kids but she can’t. I could change you so you’d match her DNA.”

Even though she swore she would never hurt a cell on his body. He would never become a ninja. It was too dangerous.

She leaped through her open window and placed the baby in her cold bed. She head downstairs to prepare a bottle of milk for Heiwa.

Once it was in the microwave, that when it finally hit her.

It finally hit that little seven year old.

She wasn’t normal. Her father was never home, she was a traitor since she was four and a half and now, she was going to raise a baby. That was all normal to her.

It wasn’t supposed to be.

She was seven! What was going to happen next? Sakura was going to disappear?

And there, in that kitchen of the head of the Yamanaka clan, Yamanaka Ino broke down sobbing. She stayed like that till dawn, Heiwa sleeping through it and Aozora walking into it. He just took her into his arms.

It was her seventh birthday.


	6. Seven and a Half

Ino sat in her aunt’s house, watching the woman bottle feed Heiwa.  Kiko didn’t know his  _ true _ origins, or else she would be asking Ino a new set of questions.  She just told her aunt that she found him in an alley, next to his dead mother.

Kiko had gotten him checked out, making sure he didn’t have any diseases.  When he was finished, he had been discovered completely healthy, just a little dehydrated.

Kiko had explained everything to the Hokage, saying that she would protect the boy.  Ino had gotten a medal for saving him, one that she said that she didn’t want.  The Hokage didn’t understand, only giving it to Aozora after Ino had left the office in a haste.  The blonde had hung it in the kitchen for Ino to see every day.

And remind her of the horrible ways that Heiwa came into the world.

“Kiko-oba-san,” Ino began, and her aunt looked over at her.  “Kaa-san’s full Chairono and Tou-san’s full Yamanaka.  Does that mean I’m half Chairono and half Yamanaka?”

Kiko turned to look at the girl, bouncing her adopted son in her arms.

“I guess,” she shrugged, and poked Heiwa’s nose.  He gurgled happily and Ino prayed to every deity out there that he would never find out what happened to his birth mother.  Who she was.

Ino had done her research.  His mother’s name was Uchiha Aimi who was a pretty infamous ANBU, one of Itachi’s old mentors.  Ino nearly cried when she read that file.

“She told me her name before she died,” Ino announced.  Kiko turned to look at her niece.  This was the first time she had spoken of the woman who had given birth to her son.  “Her name was Uma Kiku.”

Ino had also looked for a woman who had recently died after a few days of the massacre.  A pregnant woman had died in the slums, so Ino just found her body during the night and cut her just like she did to Aimi.  She had removed the baby and replaced them together, as if Kiku was hold the baby when she died.  The baby was practically rotted by now.

Kiko stared at Ino in shock.

“Ino, how did Kiku die?” Kiko asked, but that was the final trigger.  Ino grabbed her left eye, sobs racking her tiny frame.  She had been accidently starving herself since Heiwa joined their family, throwing up the second it entered her stomach.

“Ino!” her father exclaimed, quickly grabbing the girl by her shoulders.  It was one of those rare days that he had off and was spending with his family.  “It’s okay!  Deep breaths!”

It was too late though.  Ino had shot up and dashed over to the bathroom, puking as she relived the horrors of the massacre.

Inoichi quickly grabbed the girl’s hair away from her mouth.  When she was done, she leaned back into his chest and began to cry.  He flushed the toilet, wiping the girl’s mouth as tears streamed down her face.  She just cried into his shirt.

Inoichi brought her to the common area where Kiko was holding Heiwa.  She took one look at Ino and she wrapped the starved girl in a hug, passing Heiwa off to Inoichi.

 

* * *

 

Ino skipped sitting with Akane and Sakura, who kept on sharing glances between themselves and sending her worried glances.

Instead, she sat with Naruto.

“You going to eat that?” he asked, pointing his chopsticks at Ino’s bento.  With a shake of her head, Ino heard him grab it and start eating it with vigor.  The boy behind her had become an avid pranker, Ino occasionally helping when she had to get her mind off something.

She, however, painted during the night when she couldn’t sleep.  She still had yet to be caught and everyone knew that Naruto couldn’t draw.  He could only graffiti quickly.

Just as Naruto was about to eat her apple, Ino wrapped him in a tight hug, burying her head into his neck.

“Never change, okay Uzumaki-kun?” she asked.

He froze but looked at her worriedly.

“Okay, Ino-chan.” he promised and his collar began to get wet.  “Ino-chan, what’s wrong?”

“Never leave,” she begged.  “Never leave me.  Promise me.”

“I-I promise,” he told her softly and she continued to cry.  “I promise Ino-chan.”

 

* * *

 

A few days later, she was at her aunt’s house with Naruto, who kept looking over at her weirdly, but continued to work on the science problem in front of him diligently.

“Uzumaki-kun,” Ino whispered.  “Do you think I’m weak?”

Naruto stopped working and turned to look at the girl.

“Ino-chan!” he exclaimed.  “What’s wrong?”

Her face and eyes were always red now and she skipped a lot of school.  Sakura and the other girl, Inuzuka Red? always brought her homework to the compound.  Ino did it there, left it in the mailbox and the two girls returned it to Iruka-sensei.

“Hey, Ino-chan?” Naruto prodded, looking at blonde worriedly.  “You okay?”

Ino wiped her tears away again but nodded.  Naruto didn’t like it, but he went back to working.  It didn’t matter though.

Ino knew what he would say.  That she wasn’t.  He knew what she did to help Heiwa, but like many others, he didn’t know the full story.

Naruto got up to leave several hours later, packing everything in his bag even though he only did five questions in the two hours he spent with Ino.  The girl was still curled up on the couch, still staring out of the window.

“Come to school tomorrow, Ino-chan!” Naruto exclaimed and then left.

Ino felt his pull, ripping it away from her cracking self.  She wanted to go down, hug him and start crying again, but she knew that it would be weird.  He wouldn’t understand.

Heiwa began to cry, through the six month old putting on quite a bit of weight.  Ino stood up and walked over to his crib, staring down at the baby Uchiha lovingly.

She couldn’t get much higher than the top of it where her aunt and dad could lift him out, but it was better than nothing.

“Hi Hei-kun,” Ino murmured and the baby continued crying.  “Kiko-oba-san’s working right now and Tou-san is visiting Kaa-san.”

Still, Heiwa cried.  Ino pulled a foot rest over and stood on top of it to reach over the bars and touch him.

“Why do you cry, Hei-kun?” she asked as he grabbed her finger and suddenly started giggling instead of crying.  “Kiko-ba-san fed you, changed you and everything.”

The baby started to giggle loudly.

“Or are you just lonely like me?” Ino asked.  “Like… me?”  She started sobbing uncontrollably again while her baby cousin continued to giggle.  His tiny peals of laughter made Ino just cry harder.

What she would give for a normal childhood, one without all this pain.

 

* * *

 

A few weeks later, Ino left Konoha’s walls again for the monthly meet up with Orochimaru.

“You still haven’t recovered?” he asked after got their tea and sat down outside a cafe in the Land of Hot Water.

“Of course not,” Ino muttered, blowing steam from her cup of tea.  “She’s my first kill.  They all were, but I killed her to give her son life.”

Orochimaru sighed.  He was wearing a genjutsu disguise and was masking his chakra completely.  It was still risky, but he’d been choosing locations for the sake of Ino’s mental health.  She needed sun.  She was almost his skin tone.

Taking a sip of the piping hot tea, Orochimaru sighed in contentment as it slid down his throat.

“I’m out of the Akatsuki,” he sighed defeatedly.  “Ran away in fear of another Uchiha.”

Ino’s eyes lit up darkly.  He sighed.  She was still set on getting revenge for Riko’s murderer and Heiwa’s mother.

“I can’t wait to kill him,” Ino muttered darkly.  “Complete and utter return.”

Orochimaru chuckled and set his cup down.

“This is nice,” he admitted and Ino looked at him surprised.  “I really like talking with you Ino-chan.  I’ll miss this.”

Ino looked into her tea cup.

“You know,” she said.  “You’re the only person who I think knows all my secrets, Maru-sama-chan.”

“Oh?”

“You know Hei-kun’s origins, where my mother is at, who I am,” she looked out across the street.  Orochimaru had disguised himself as a younger, blonde boy with brown eyes.  He looked like Ino, so it was like a father daughter day out.  “You know Tou-san neglects me half the time, spending more time with Kaa-san than me.  You how bad I can be when I want to be.  You know how many people I’ve killed.”

Orochimaru chuckled.  “In turn, you know almost everything about me, and this is without having to ask me.”

Ino sighed in contentment.  “I know.”

Apart, they were horrible, broken people.  Together, they were able to support each other through anything, no matter what.

Orochimaru slid a package over to her.

“I finally got it done,” he sighed and she ripped open the wrapping.  There, what was near impossible to find, create or buy, was a katana with a deep purple hilt.

“Thank you Maru-sama-chan.” Ino thanked, placing it in a sealing scroll.

“What are clients for?” Orochimaru asked.

Ino chuckled taking a sip of her tea.


	7. Eighth

Ino spent her eighth birthday with Heiwa, her father and her aunt. Sakura was off studying for the upcoming math test, Akane was at a mandatory clan barbeque or something and the Nara and Akimichi clan were doing something that Shikamaru and Choji had to attend.

It was nice, Ino thought. It was calming, sweet. Her father had the day off and they had all spent time with Ino’s mother. It was Heiwa’s first time meeting his aunt but he had played with her cold fingers all day.

Currently, Heiwa was playing with some new toys that he got for his first birthday, which happened yesterday. Ino had laughed when he had stuffed part of the chocolate cupcake into his mouth then spit it out in disgust. He like vanilla more, just like the rest of their family, but he still liked tomatoes more. They were Ino’s favorite too, though she was convinced they were a fruit. That’s what she was taught, and that was what she would teach Heiwa.

“Ino-chan,” Kiko called and the blonde looked up from watching Heiwa play with the toy animals. “Come and blow out the candle.”

“Hei-kun can do it,” Ino fondled, picking the one year old up. “He’s a year old now.”

Kiko and Inoichi rolled their eyes but let the black haired boy blow out the candle for Ino. He clapped his hands together happily watching as his family smiled down at him.

Ino took the cupcake and smeared a small amount on the baby’s nose. He scrunched his face up, but when Ino did the same, he laughed. Kiko disappeared into the kitchen, dragging Inoichi with her.

“When are we going to tell her?” Kiko demanded, looking at her brother-in-law worriedly.

“How am I supposed to bring it up?” Inoichi asked. “I’m never around, always hunting for a cure for Noriko.  She’ll know something’s wrong.”

“It’s getting expensive,” Kiko sighed. “You’re going to have to let her go soon.”

Inoichi looked away.

“I’ll tell her soon.” he promised. “One of these days, but not before the month is up.”

Meanwhile, in the living room, unknown to the two adults, the one they were trying to protect had heard everything.

 

* * *

 

A few weeks later, Ino was grocery shopping for the main house, Aozora out on a mission. He had moved out a week before Ino’s eighth birthday, so Ino had the entire main house to herself now.

Heiwa gurgled as he chewed on his teething ring. It was odd to see a young child carry out the duties of an adult, but Ino didn’t care. Rereading the list to make sure she didn’t miss anything she sighed. She had to get corn.

Yes. Corn.

Walking over to the area where the vegetables were, Ino selected five cobs of corn. Four for her mom’s brother’s family, which was coming to visit in two days. They wouldn’t spoil before then, would they?

Turning back to her cart, Ino crashed into another small body. Stumbling, she quickly regained balance and turned to stare at the person.

“Uchiha-kun?” she asked, staring at the boy in shock.

“Yamanaka-san,” he returned curtly. His previous happy and light black eyes were frosted over, not unlike Ino’s. “How are you?”

Ino looked away, hugging the corn cobs to her chest. “Fine. How about you, Uchiha-san?”

“Now it’s -san?” Sasuke demanded, and Ino felt shivers go down her spine.

Ino was thankful when Heiwa started to cry, having dropped his toy on the ground.

“Excuse me, Uchiha-san,” Ino pleaded and quickly returned to her cart. Placing the corn in the right spots, she quickly reached to scoop up Heiwa’s toy.

A light hand reached it first, and Ino jumped when she realized it was Sasuke’s.

“Can we talk somewhere else?” he asked, returning Heiwa’s toy. “I want to know why your skipping class.”

Ino quickly nodded and raced away. She finished shopping, paying the total and carrying all the bags home. She felt Sasuke follow her and chills once again went down her spine. Dropping them all off at the main house and placing them in the proper places, Ino quickly walked out, Heiwa holding her hand and waddling beside her.

“Who’s he?” Sasuke demanded, glaring at the younger boy.

“My one year old cousin,” Ino defended. “You wanted to talk?  C’mon.”

She led him to a deserted part of the Yamanaka clan’s garden. Letting Heiwa romp around in the daisies, she turned to face the supposed last Uchiha.

“Okay, we’re secluded,” Ino snapped. “What do you want?”

Sasuke glared at her, trying to make her retreat. She didn’t falter either. It was like a battle between ice and fire. Ino’s frozen eyes, freezing everything around while Sasuke’s tried to incinerate everything else.

Sasuke breaks first.

“He looks like Hitoshi-san,” he murmured, looking down at Heiwa. “What’s his name?”

“... Heiwa.” Ino finally announces. “He has a sucky origin though.”

Sasuke scoffed and turned to leave.

“Don’t we all?”

He leaves, and Ino freezes. It’s true.  She picks up Heiwa, who no doubt will discover he’s an Uchiha.

“We all do.” she sighed and walked home.

 

* * *

 

Ino had finally started coming to classes again, spending a full two months. She wasn’t too far behind, but she still had to catch up soon. Which she did. In a week.

She and Sakura had spoken a lot still, talking excitedly. Most of Sakura’s words revolved around one person though. Uchiha Sasuke.

He and Ino had spoken occasionally, eating dango on the roof when they both finished the physical exams of the week. They didn’t really speak, but Ino still spent a bunch of time with him.

Sakura suddenly asked her to join her on a bench during lunch, fairly secluded from everyone else.

“So, what’s up?” Ino asked, looking up at the sky. Why was it happy in Konoha all the time?  Never sad?

“Um,” Sakura murmured.

“What is it Sakura-chan?” Ino asked. She had no idea what the girl had called her out for, other than looking at the clouds. Though, that was more Shikamaru’s forte.

“By the way…” Sakura seemed oddly hesitant to talk to her, which was odd.

“What is it?” Ino asked, looking over at the pinkette with a smile. This was her dose of normalcy. Her haven.

“Um, well, I heard that you…”

Ino leaned back and stared up at the happy sky. “C’mon, what is it, Sakura-chan?”

“Like Sasuke-kun,” Sakura announced and Ino froze. She just froze.

Of course she liked him. He was fairly polite before the Uchiha Massacre and he actually sparred with her on occasion. They hadn’t done that for a while, but Ino liked them. They were a nice escape for dreams.

He was also her last connection to Riko. Sakura and the Uchiha girl never got along, until it was that Ino had to keep them separate from each other. All Sakura knew about Riko was that she and Sasuke were both from the same clan.

Sakura stood up, taking Ino’s silence as a yes.

“Then, from now on,” Sakura began, but it only registered dully in the back of Ino’s mind. “You and I are rivals.”

Ino sat there, staring ahead at nothing. Sakura had disappeared a long time ago, but all she could hear was a scream from a dead girl.

 

* * *

 

When Ino had finally returned to reality, it was after school had ended. She stood up and walked to the building, the final bell ringing. Students flooded out of their classes, Ino merely dancing around people until she got to her class.

She entered, and everyone’s eyes were on her. And all she saw was hatred.

Everywhere she looked, eyes were filled to the brim with hatred and without a shred of trust in them. Naruto had skipped out, saying that he had a marvelous prank planned if Ino wanted to join in, so she was safe from his hate at least.

Shikamaru and Choji were out, their fathers taking them out for training. Ino was invited but she said she was still far behind and the only way she would go was if her father went too.

Turning to look at terrified Sakura, Ino’s eyes widened. She saw the smugness in them. The smugness of being on top.

Ino wanted to knock her off her high throne, so badly.

“Your a bitch, Sakura,” she stated and shoved past two girls, previously Sakura’s tormentors, and grabbed her bag. With that, she slid the back door open and exited the classroom.

Once she got home, Ino bolted the door shut, stared up at the roof and cried.

 

* * *

 

She started to skip school, days at a time. If she did go to class, she didn’t try. One day, she caught some upperclassmen messing with Naruto.

He never looked so scared of her before but she didn’t care. She simply laughed, saying that she didn’t care about his petty little feelings anymore. She was simply looking for an excuse to punch someone.

The second that she and Sakura were paired up, she gave the girl a bruised jaw and a black eye. When Iruka called the match, Ino smirked down at Sakura and didn’t bother doing the customary thanks.

Iruka gave her another detention for that stunt. Which she skipped again.

Shikamaru and Choji were slowly floating away from her, not that they were all that close before. Heiwa was actually crying at the sight of his big cousin’s eyes so cold they were like pure ice.

“Ino-chan?” Akane asked, coming up to the girl on of the rare days she was at the Academy. “Why did you break it off with Sakura-chan?”

Ino merely sent her a small, ice cold smirk that matched her eyes.

“Why, I did that because she was annoying.” Ino stated, her hands stuffed into her pockets.

“She’s right,” Akane growled and Ino turned with a interested face. “You’re a demon.  A evil person.”

Ino shrugged, and continued on her way, leaving a furious Akane behind her. Naruto watched her leave too, a concerned look on his face but he didn’t do anything. Ino was scary now.

 

* * *

 

Orochimaru stared at the blonde in front of him.

“You have the month off?” he asked, a little skeptical.

Ino’s eyes lit up in a way the sannin didn’t like.

“Of course!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands together excitedly. “I’m skipping and since Tou-chan doesn’t care, I can do it for however long I want!”

“What about your aunt?” Orochimaru attempted.

“Kiko-oba-chan doesn’t want me around Hei-chan anymore,” Ino pouted. “I make him cry all the time.”

Orochimaru stared at her with his mouth open. Yamanaka Ino hummed a tuneless song, making his defense shoot up, right up there when he’s fighting Tsunade and Jiraiya.

He didn't like that. 

* * *

 

Orochimaru was showing her around one of his bases, gesturing to every door while Ino nodded along. He knew she was mentally mapping the place, incase she ever showed up again. When he entered the medical wing, Yakushi Kabuto’s head popped out of one of the doors.

“Orochi-” he began but then saw the small, blonde form beside his master. “Oh, who’s this?”

Orochimaru looked down at the eight year old and frowned. “Ino-chan, this is Yakushi Kabuto, my right hand man.”

“He’s the smart, medic one who you brag about all the time!” Ino exclaimed, and darted up the white haired teen. “Oro-chan brags about you all the time! I thought you were his son when he talked about you!”

Kabuto actually had to stare down a the girl for a while.

“Excuse me?”

“He’s always rambling on and on about you, saying how smart you are-” the energetic blonde was cut off by a swift slap to the head. “Oro-chan!” she exclaimed, tears pricking her eyes.

“Anyways,” Orochimaru continued, as if the girl wasn’t important. “Kabuto-kun, this is Yamanaka Ino, my inside source of information in Konoha.”

Kabuto once again looked at the girl, who had changed again and was smiling up at him brightly.

“Pleasure to meet you.” Kabuto greeted, holding out his hand.

Ino stared at the hand then quickly grabbed it.

“Nice to meet you too!” she exclaimed, smiling brightly.

Kabuto withheld a shiver of fear.


	8. Curses

Ino entered her mother’s hospital room, her face void of emotion. Her leather bag was over her shoulder, filled to the brim with books.

“Hey Kaa-san,” she greeted quietly as she took the seat next to the bed to her mother’s cold body. It was like paper, fragile but able to hold together barely. “I have maths to do, so do you mind if I ask you for help?”

The pale woman didn’t respond, the only sound was the monitors on the walls and the breathing mask.

Ino didn’t smile as she pulled out her math homework and began to relearn everything that Iruka had taught them that day.

It didn’t matter that Ino was hunched over her work, her face void of emotions. That the sun set while she was still there, and that the Yamanaka nurse had to tell her that it was time to go again.

Ino left her mother’s hospital room her head brimming with knowledge and her bag filled with books.

* * *

Ino stretched her arms high above her head, her shoulders cracking. She then face planted onto the desk in front of her, her arms spread far out in front of her.

“I’m so boooooored!” she whined to Sakura, who was packing her own bag beside her.

Sakura giggled and Riko slung an arm over Ino’s shoulders.

“Well, to be fair, it is because we’re doing nothing but history,” the Uchiha girl admitted. “It’s your worst subject.”

“You’re mean!” Ino pouted, burying her head into the wooden surface under face.

Riko laughed and walked away, talking to her third(?) cousin, Uchiha Sasuke. Sakura pulled Ino’s science books out of her bag and placed her own on the desk in front of her.

“Wake up, Ino-chan,” she advised quietly, her face glowing with a timid smile. “Iruka-sensei is ready to teach us science.”

Ino groaned and turned her head to the side. “Why can’t it be mathematics?” she whined.

“Because that’s the last subject of the day,” Sakura giggled into her hand, sharpening her pencil. “You know this. We go through this every day.”

Ino propped her head up in her hand and smirked at Sakura knowingly. “But I like mathematics, so that’s why we go through this every day.”

Sakura shook her head. “That doesn’t mean anything though, Ino-chan. If you like it so much, just learn the entire curriculum. Your Kaa-san could help you-”

Ino’s smirk fell from her face and she turned to the front. She didn’t hear the rest of what Sakura said, only saying ‘here’ when Iruka called her name.

She sent Sakura and Riko a fake smile, telling them that she had to go home immediately. Her parents were planning something, so that meant that she had to be present to be their little party errand boy.

Riko laughed it off and ran to catch up to Sasuke, and Sakura left with her mother a few minutes later. Ino stood off in an alley a ways away until they were both gone and quickly ran towards the clan compound.

* * *

Ino laid on the ground, clad in pure black and a toke covering her blonde hair. Her hands were behind her head, and her skin was mostly covered in the normal black.

Kabuto’s head popped up on top of hers. “Care to tell me and Orochimaru-sama why we had to come all the way from the Land of Lightning to the Land of Rivers?”

Ino sat up and pulled her toque off her head. She turned and smirked at the white haired boy, and his eyes narrowed.

“You know the curse seals?” Ino asked.

Kabuto’s eyes widened in shock. She wanted…

“I’m ready.”

* * *

Orochimaru was behind Kabuto, having left a little later to return the patient to his cell, so by the time he arrived at the place that he and Ino had agreed up, he was surprised.

Ino was sitting on the ground, her back towards Orochimaru. He heard metal on metal, meaning she was probably sharpening a weapon of some sort. Her black jacket on the ground next to Kabuto, who was sitting under a tree reading another medical textbook. Orochimaru had no idea where he kept them, but he had a least a good collection by now.

“Care to tell me what’s going on?” he asked. Ino looked over her shoulder and smiled at her mentor.

“I’m ready, Oro-chan.” Ino announced and Kabuto looked up from his textbook. “I want a seal.”

Orochimaru’s eyes widened. They had talked about a seal on occasion, but nothing big. Now, for her to say that she wanted one…

“What changed your mind?” he asked skeptically.

Ino smiled, her eyes glittering under the moonlight. “I just think it’s time. Ready?”

Orochimaru swallowed as Ino stood up and removed her black shirt. Running through a series of signs, Orochimaru’s neck extended and shot at Ino. He latched onto the nape of her neck, his dark chakra filling her body.

Ino screamed, her back arching back painfully as she accepted the Curse Seal of the Sky. She grabbed her shoulder as soon as Orochimaru released it, her eyes filling up with pain. With one last scream, she collapsed, unconscious.

“Now, we wait and see,” Kabuto sighed, pulling out a textbook. “I wonder what she’s going to do.”

Orochimaru shrugged and leapt up into a tree, acting as the lookout.

* * *

Ino was in a blank area. It was pure white, with some sort of clear liquid that she was able to stand on. Or float in.

**_Either way, it was odd. No one was around, and all she had was silver walls that were surrounding her._ **

**_“Hello?” she called and a light giggle came from behind her._ **

**_A woman was sitting on top of a pile of bodies, her leg crossed over her other and leaning onto her hand. The room instantly began to turn red, coming from the bleeding bodies._ **

**_“How are you, Ino-chan?” the woman asked. “Doing well?”_ **

**_Ino regard the woman with pale blonde hair. “Who are you?” she demanded._ **

**_The woman giggled. “You’ll learn soon enough, but are you willing to accept_ ** **that** **_?”_ **

**_She jerked a hand over her shoulder to a grey skinned, six-winged thing was ravaging a body._ **

**_“She eats humans. Cannibalizes them,” the woman explained, tearing an arm off a body she was on top of and throwing it over her shoulder towards the demonic thing. “You’d be able to control her, but it would take a lot of effort.”_ **

**_“I wouldn’t do it.” a timid voice said, coming up beside Ino. She wore a long, grey skirt and a loose long sleeved shirt. “It’s not worth it.”_ **

**_Ino smiled brightly. “Well, good thing that I’m insane.”_ **

**_“You ain’t insane, hon,” the woman chuckled, uncrossing her legs and leaping down to the young pair of Inos. Ino’s smile fell. “At least, not yet.”_ **

**_Ino’s face slowly stretched into a grin and she licked her lips. “Oh dear!” she exclaimed. “Seeming like time is running short now, isn’t it, Ino-chan~”_ **

**_The woman threw her head back and laughed. “Very true, Ino-chan. Now, shall we?”_ **

Ino shot up into a sitting position with a gasp. Kabuto dropped his textbook and she heard Orochimaru almost fall out of a tree.

Then, she began to laugh. She threw her head back and began to cackle. Orochimaru and Kabuto shared a look. This girl in front of them was dangerous.

* * *

 

The next day, Ino woke up in her bed in Main house. She blinked and sat up, only to smell something that suspiciously had the scent of hotcakes. The only person who could make those were…

Ino threw the door open to the kitchen to catch sight of Aozora and his latest girlfriend, a weirdo clan member who only ate sweets. Mostly. Her name was Sayuri and apparently a blossoming baker.

Ino pinched the bridge of her nose and turned to go up the stairs and snuggle with her duvet.

“Ino-chan,” Aozora called, making the blonde pause in her walking. “Come and join us for breakfast. Sa-chan is making hotcakes.”

Ino blew a breath from her mouth, and stormed back to the kitchen. She plopped down in her seat and Sayuri sent the her a bright smile.

“Hello Ino-sama,” the girl sang, her orange hair whipping back and forth. “Care for some hotcakes?”

“Don’t start spouting the weird physiological crap and we’re good,” Ino told her and spooned her cousin’s infamous scrambled eggs onto her plate. “I have to go back to sleep.”

“You can do that after you go shopping with Akane-san and Mai-san,” Aozora said, sipping on some of his morning green tea. “I promised them that you’d go with them.”

Ino choked on her egg, coughing and hacking until she could breathe again. She glared at Aozora. “Don’t make decisions for me that I know I’ll regret!”

Sayuri laughed from the kitchen. “He’s lying, Ino-sama!  He would never do that!”

Aozora chuckled and turned to his eight year old cousin. “Well, don’t go overboard, Ino-chan. Kiko-san is calling you to take care of Heiwa-san.”

Ino’s lip curled up in disgust as she took a bite of her hotcake that Sayuri set before her.

“I’m tired though,” she whined. “Can I just sleep with Heiwa-kun for the entire time?”

Aozora smiled as his cousin finished another hotcake. “Well, sure,” he shrugged. “But Heiwa is going to want to eat too.”

“I’ll bottle feed him,” Ino scoffed. “It’s not that hard. I’ve done all of this by myself before.”

“Not alone,” Aozora pointed out.

Ino smirked. Oh, yeah, she could do this alone. “But, I have done it while Kiko-oba-san is downstairs working in the flower shop. I’ll be fine.”

“You’re sure confident, Ino-sama,” Yamanaka Ken said, walking in. He had been dropping in quite regularly to make sure the heiress ate  _ something. _

Ino’s chest puffed up. “Well then,” she huffed. “I’m pretty sure me and Hei-chan will be fine together.”

And fine they were.


	9. Eight and 3/4

“You tell her!” Kiko snapped and Ino looked up from her book in the living room of the Yamanaka clan’s main house.  Heiwa also looked up from his toy ninjas, frowning at the door the led to the dining area and kitchen.

“Why should I tell her when you’re the one moving?” Inoichi demanded.

“You just told me half of everything!” Ino called, returning to her book.  Heiwa turned to look at his cousin, blinking in confusion.

“Babuka,” he mumbled.  “Kanma kouna ma bah?”

“They’re just arguing over who gets to tell us where we’re moving!” Ino raised her voice.  “And it better not be Suna!”

Kiko finally shoved her head out of the kitchen through the little slot and glared at her niece.

“It isn’t Suna,” she growled.  “It’s Kumo.  And it’s not including your father, because he has work here.”

Ino turned her head to look at her aunt.

“Then it just you and Hei-kun?” Ino asked.  Kiko sighed.

“And you, if you wanted,” she mumbled and Ino leapt up.  “But, only if you get As for the rest of the year.”  She thought for a moment.  “That also means, no skipping.”

“So, I have to get the highest mark in my class for the year end exams?” Ino reaffirmed.  Kiko nodded.  “Piece of cake!  I’ll go right now!”

Ino got to her feet quickly and raced out the door, book still in hand.

Heiwa waddled over and peeked his head out into the entrance.  “Naku ka ta?”

“Just going to school!” Ino chirped and grabbed her school bag which she hasn’t touched for several months.  “Bye Hei-kun!”

Kiko soon came to look at her son, one which he looked over to her.  “Umaka na bah ka?”  Kiko couldn’t help but chuckle.

“She’s going to come to Kumo with us,” she explained.  “They need help training new medics.”

Heiwa once again blinked and looked over his mother’s shoulder at the disappearing door.

“Smalky.”

 

* * *

 

“I’m back~!” Ino sang, just as last period started.

Everyone stared at her in shock, most disbelieving.  They hadn’t seen the blonde since she broke it off with Sakura and just started skipping that put Naruto and Kiba to shame.

Her hair was longer and up in a high ponytail.  Her blue eyes were calm and cold, darker than even Sasuke’s.  Her clothes were different from the last time too.  White shorts, a light purple tank top covering a bunch of fishnet.  Her legs, from her thighs down to her ankles were covered in the same stuff.

Sakura turned and smirked at the blonde.

“Well, if it isn’t Ino-buta-chan.” she hissed venomously.

Ino gasped, leaning back as if the insult had injured her in some way.

“So mean now Forehead-chan!” she exclaimed and pouted, still clutching her heart.  “Of course, that might just be that you’ve been coming up with a bunch of insults since I left.”

Kiba edged away from the blonde, who stalked down the stairs.  Naruto just stared at her, shocked at how cold she was.

Ino slammed her hand on the desk Sakura sat at.

“What’s wrong, Forehead?” she asked, turning her head to the side innocently.  “You mad that I disappeared before you could use your insult?  Oh, how long did it take you to come up with that one?  A month?”

Sakura glared at her rival angrily.

“At least I scored higher than you,” she bragged and Ino pinched her chin.  “I mean, that means I have a better chance of being here next year, instead of a year down.”

Ino’s eyebrows raised, then she scoffed.

“Oh, how cute,” she drawled.  “Hey, Kiba-kun!  We have a tough girl here!”

Kiba’s eyes widened as Ino called him out.  Akamaru barked happily and Kiba smirked.  Akamaru began to wag his tail excitedly.

The two had sometimes spent time together, skipping easily.  He kept her up on school gossip and Ino kept him the loop of good places for pranking, hiding and just killing time.

“Oh, you have no idea,” he agreed, walking down the steps to stand beside Ino.  He slung an arm around the blonde’s.  “Only thing Sakura does anymore is read books.  Called her nerd once but she just called me a wet dog.  How’s that an insult?”

Ino gasped and turned on Sakura.

“I’ll have you know, that is not an insult,” she stated, wagging her finger as if Sakura was a naughty child.  “Wet dogs are awesome.”

“But they smell terrible!” Shiroichi Hanami exclaimed, scooting closer to Sakura.

Ino smirked.  “Oh, but they smell amazing after they have a bath.”  She ruffled Kiba’s hair and took a small sniff.  “Oo!  Green Apple!”  She returned to Sakura.  “Now then, Bunmin-chan, what are we going to do about you?”

“Why not beat her at her own game?” Shikamaru drawled lazily.  He had woken up to Ino’s return, staring at her wide eyed as well.  Now though, he was back to normal, but far from sleep.  “Academics?”

Ino’s eyes lit up.

“That’s right!” she exclaimed and shoved Mimi Asami out of the way to get into Sakura’s face.  “Listen close, Forehead,” she hissed and everyone who heard shivered.  “I have one month to beat you.  And I intend to destroy the one thing you hold dear.”

Sakura sent her rival a glare so hot it could fry an egg.  Ino’s calm and collected gaze was putting the fire out as the seconds ticked by, but Sakura’s fiery gaze wasn’t giving in.

They were interrupted by Umino Iruka opening the door to the class and everyone scurried back to their seats.  Ino slipped into the seat next to Hyuga Hinata who froze when she realized who was beside her.

“Sorry,” Ino apologized.  “Is this seat taken?”

“N-N-No,” Hinata stuttered, ducking her head down to avoid eye contact.  “N-No o-one ha-has th-that seat.”

Ino shook her head as Iruka began attendance.  She must have scared the already shy girl.

“Hyuga Hinata, right?” she asked, just as Iruka called out the girl’s name.  “Sorry, but I don’t actually bite that hard.  Only to people who deserve it.”  She glared at the back of Sakura’s head.

“O-Oh,” Hinata stuttered.  “Okay Yamanaka-san.”

“Call me Ino!” the blonde exclaimed softly.  “I think it’s better for you.”

“And we all know Yamanaka Ino isn’t here, again,” Iruka sighed as he set down his clipboard.

“Here Umino!” Ino chirped and returned to her conversation with Hinata.  “So that’s why I think you should call me by my name.”

Hinata and the rest of the class blinked in surprise.  Ino just finished lecturing the plum haired girl after Iruka said that she wasn’t here.  Her eyes flew over to Iruka’s and her eyes lit up predatorily.

“What is it, Umino-sensei?” she sang, a small pout on her face.  “You surprised?  I’m here to learn, so start teaching.”

Iruka stood there, gobsmacked for a few minutes, to which Ino started a conversation with Kiba, somehow dragging Hinata into the mix.

“Silence!” Iruka snapped, and turned to the blackboard.  “We’re learning science now!”

Ino shut up and took notes like a good little girl, but not before passing notes back and forth between Hinata and Kiba.

 

* * *

 

“You seem happy, Yamanaka-san.” Kabuto commented warily, talking to the cloaked girl in a dark alley where no one else was around.  The reason being that Ino incapacitated them all and dragged them into a pile in the corner.

“Of course I am!” Ino chirped, braiding her hair that went down to her mid back.  She had taken it out of it’s ponytail and had began braiding it when Kabuto arrived.  She had restarted twice so far.

“If I get in the top three of our grade, I can go with Kiko-ba-chan to Kumo for a year,” Ino explained.  “They’re running low on medics so she’ll be busy.  Sumire-oba will take care of Hei-kun and I’ll just spend as much time as I want with Oro-chan!”

Kabuto looked at the girl duly, much like she was an idiot.

“And Kumo won’t notice that you’re missing?” he asked.  “It’s a problem with Otogakure if you can’t stick around.”

“Of course I’ll stick around,” Ino sighed, twisting the elastic around her braid.  “Oro-chan needs to train me and I need him to.”

“What if you need to watch Heiwa-san?” Kabuto asked.

“I won’t,” Ino sighed.  “I mean, I’ll always spend every second weekend with them.  If I need to watch Heiwa, I’ll just carry a summon.”

“A snake?” Kabuto snapped.  “As if that won’t lead you back to Orochimaru-sama.”

Ino chuckled darkly and whipped out a kunai.  She spun it around her finger quickly and sunlight snapped off of it.

“I have another kind of summon,” Ino sighed.  “Two actually.  If the need arises, I’ll use the squirrels, as their the Chairono’s summons.  I’ll take ravens off the list, as I actually want to keep some of them secret.”

“What for?” Kabuto asked.

Ino smiled darkly, and her oddly white teeth shone in the little light dangerously.

“Why, when I join Oro-chan, Yakushi-san,” she said and she raised her ice blue eyes to his.  The teen froze as the almost nine year old just smiled.  “Can I have the package?”

He silently handed her the small box that he had been giving her for the past nine months.  She lifted the lid and smiled excitedly.

“You actually managed to get it, huh Oro-chan?” she asked, smirking.  She pocketed the box and in turn handed Kabuto a large, manila file.  “Oro-chan knows what’s in it.  It’s the first thing on his list, actually.”

Kabuto stared at it and Ino smirked at him.

“I’d get out of here soon, Yakushi-san,” she told him, cocking her head to the side.  It came off as innocent, but underneath a malicious undertone.  “Those thugs will wake up soon and that’s the file I used to to knock them out with.  Have a nice day~!”

And with that, Yamanaka Ino disappeared into thin air and Yakushi Kabuto was left to return to Orochimaru’s hideout in the Frost Country.

Kabuto withheld a shiver of fear.

 

* * *

 

Ino was left to sit in her seat as she took the finals and just stared at the paper as if it was the stupidest thing that she had ever seen.  Pinching the bridge of her nose, she let the annoyed air filter out through her mouth.

“Is something wrong?” Kiba whispered from beside her.

“No,” she sighed.  “I just know everything on here.”

“Well, isn’t that good?”

Ino gave him a flat stare.  “Kiba-kun, I appreciate it, but I thought Iruka would at least challenge me.”

Kiba shrugged and went back to his own test, filling out the answers thanks to Akamaru.  With a sigh, Ino began hers, going at the same pace as Kiba, if not a bit slower.  She reread every question, unlined everything she thought was important and just overall checked her answers three times.

She was still finished before the rest of the class.

 

* * *

 

The next day was Tuesday, April 19, and test scores were posted on the wall.  Ino showed up later than normal, but it didn’t matter.  People were crowding around the board, all whispering furiously.  She just rolled her eyes and stepped inside the class, taking a seat farthest away from the window.

She wanted to be out there today, instead of in this stuffy classroom.  So she chose a seat far away from it, knowing that she wouldn’t focus if she was beside the window.

“Ah, hello Yamanaka-san,” Iruka greeted the blonde.  She was the first in the classroom, after Sasuke.  He, however, was abnormally early and Ino actually liked sleep.  It was much better than waking up early.  “How are you today?”

Ino shrugged.  “Totally ready for the new year,” she stated.

Suddenly, she felt like spiders were crawling up her neck and back and she turned to see Sasuke glaring at her for some reason.  Waving over confused, the bell rang and the kids filed into the classroom.  Once again, Ino was on the receiving end of many glares, mostly from the girls.

Kiba slid into the seat next to her just as she slammed her face into the wooden surface which was their desk.

“Honestly, what did I do to piss off all these people?” she asked.

Kiba blinked and laughed.  “You don’t know?” he asked and Ino gave him a look before returning to the desk’s surface.  “Okay.  You scored first in the class.”

That made Ino shoot up, staring at him in shock.

“HUH?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Kiba sighed.  “Makes lots of girls angry, you beating their ‘Sasuke-kun’.  Of course, I’m not surprised.  You’re weird.”

Ino gave him a flat stare.

“Gee, thanks Kiba.”

“No honorific?”

“Why should you get one of those when you don’t need one?”

“That’s just rude!” he sniffed.  Hinata, who was sitting in front of them, giggled softly.

“You’re kidding me?” Ino shook her head.  “You know what, I’m eight and two thirds.  You do you, and I’ll do me.”

“What?” Kiba demanded.  “You’re a certifiable genius!”

“Academically, yes.  In the field, will this work?  In theory.” Ino stated, shrugging.  “Say, I’m leaving for a year because Kiko-ba-san has to train new medics back in Kumo.”

Kiba gave her a horrified look.  “You’re leaving!?”

“... That’s what I just said, yes.”

“But, I-Ino-ch-chan, wh-where are you go-going to study?” Hinata asked.

“I met this guy named Kimine Kyoshi and he said he’d become my teacher,” Ino explained.  “I have no intention of going to the Kumo Ninja Academy.”

Kiba relaxed in relief.  “Thank goodness,” he muttered.

Iruka dismissed them, and Ino smirked.  “Well, see you guys later.  We leave in a week, so I have time to pack.  Can’t wait to brag.”

Kiba and Hinata edged away from the blonde, who suddenly had aura of full red and her blue eyes were alight like frost about to kill someone.  Ino began to mutter.

“Forehead… loser… Oro-chan’s going to be so happy…” she muttered darkly and Kiba sent Hinata terrified look.

“You want to come over?” he asked quickly.

“Yes.” Hinata confirmed without a stutter.  They grabbed their bags and left the room, leaving Ino in her muttering and thoughts.  They missed something though.  Something that would have revealed who Ino really was.

She flipped to an innocent, bright eyed girl who began to giggle.  The class had cleared out so she was the only one left.

“Oro-chan will be so proud!” she sang and then threw her head back and cackled.

 

* * *

 

“I’m going upstairs to pack~!” Ino sang as she entered her home.  Kiko stuck her head out the door, staring at Ino confused.

“Ino-chan, why?” she asked.

Ino gave her a confused look.  “Kiko-ba-san, you said that if I scored the highest in the class, I could go with you and Hei-kun to Kumo for the year.  I scored higher than Uchiha Sasuke as well!”

Kiko’s eyes widened and she immediately let out a squeal.  Rushing into the entrance, she wrapped the girl up into a rib crushing hug and Ino froze in her embrace.  This was the first time this happened.

“Kiko-ba-san, are you high?” Ino asked after a moment, furrowing her gaze.

Kiko blinked and let Ino go.  Placing her hands on the blonde’s shoulders, she stared at her confused.

“Why?”

“You’ve never done anything like that before,” Ino explained.  “It’s either you're drunk or high.  I would be guessing the latter, but that might just be me.”

Kiko once again blinked at her niece blankly, but quickly got rid of it.

“Ino-chan, it’s nothing like that!  I’m just so proud of you!” Kiko exclaimed.  “Now, go and get packed.  We’re traveling with the use of a caravan.”

“We can’t walk?” Ino asked, turning to go up the stairs.  “I mean, it’s less expensive.”

“Heiwa can’t handle long distances walking yet.”

“So put him in the baby backpack.  We’re just taking everything in scrolls, right?” Ino asked, leaning on the stair railing.

“Hmm?  Yeah.” Kiko agreed absentmindedly.  She was going through Heiwa’s clothes, previously Shikamaru and Ino’s baby clothes.  That was back when Noriko was alive and healthy, instead of a pale corpse in a hospital room.

Kiko turned to look at her niece, but Ino had disappeared up the stairs, not making a sound as she moved across the floor above her head.  Kiko bit her lip and returned to sorting her son’s things.

Come to think about it, Heiwa looks suspiciously like Uchiha Sasuke when he was younger.  Mikoto, Kushina and Yoshino would spend so much time together when they were pregnant, Noriko joining them occasionally.  She gave birth three months early, making Ino premature.

Glancing at her son who was playing with the animals he got nine months ago, she couldn’t help but think that her niece was hiding something about him.  Something big.

 

* * *

 

“Welcome to Kumogakure!” Chairono Sumire exclaimed, spreading her arms wide to greet the three family members.

Ino gave her a disbelieving look and walked past her, yawning into her hand.  Heiwa was sleeping on Kiko’s back, drooling too.  Kiko just looked exhausted.

“Sumire-chan,” Kiko grumbled a greeting, moving sluggishly past the woman.  “How are you?”

“Kiko-nee-chan!” Sumire exclaimed in horror.  “Let me take Heiwa-kun and we’ll take you all home!”

Kiko immediately began to protest.  “Sumire-chan, I have to take stock of the hospital, report to Raikage-sama-”

“I’ll do that,” Chairono Daiki volunteered.  “Sumire can take you, Heiwa-bo and Ino-chan to our place to sleep.”

Kiko sighed, but finally consented.  Handing her son over to her sister-in-law, Kiko finally relaxed.  She trusted her family with her life.  Ino almost fell over when she stood still, and Daiki quickly caught her.

“I’ll drop Ino-chan off at the compound, then report to Raikage-sama.” he announced, and at once leapt off the ground towards the Chairono compound off in the western side.

 

* * *

 

Ino met up with Kabuto two days later, after her family finally let her leave to explore and get acquainted with the new village.  The white haired boy had been hanging around the area for a while(three days) and ducked out of hiding every time a shinobi came around for a patrol.

Ino dragged him out into sunlight when she found him and off to a tea shop.

“So, can we get Oro-chan to change into a tall, blonde, green eyed guy?” Ino asked and Kabuto stared at her in disbelief.

“He’s a sannin,” Kabuto all but cried.  “Of course he can!”

“Well, my uncle’s the head of the Kumo ANBU,” Ino explained, chewing on a piece of pocky.  “If Oro-chan can create a disguise that not even he would realize, then I think we’re good.”

Kabuto sighed, but took a quick sip of his green tea.  This girl...

“Well, I’ll talk to him but what time do you need to introduce him to them?” Kabuto asked.  Of course, Orochimaru had already been working on a foolproof genjutsu disguise but that didn’t mean anything.  Ino’s uncle was the head of the ANBU, meaning that they would have to meet the family without him around.

“How often is your uncle home, Yamanaka-chan?” he asked, looked at the girl as she slid another piece of pocky out of the box and began to eat it.

“Leaves at four in the morning, back usually around 17 hundred hours, on the dot,” Ino recited faithfully.  “He said that he would be free for this meeting, no matter what time or day.”

Kabuto cursed.  This was turning out to be a very big problem.

“However,” Ino began, a dark smile forming on her face.  “Dai-ji-san is Chairono.  Their weakness is Genjutsu, so I think we have a chance.  He might not detect it, if it’s a super high one.  Of course, Sumire-oba would be the solution, but she’s still only a low level jounin.  She taught a squad, but that was back when she was in her late teens.”

“So if we make it extremely high, we can trick them?” Kabuto sumHirokized.  Ino nodded.  “Okay then.  I’ll report back to Bi-sama and explain.”

He got up to leave and Ino slipped something into his hand.

“A description of Kimine Kyoshi,” she explained.  “It also doesn’t matter if he’s not in the bingo books because, well, we can just say he died!”

“How?”

“He pissed off Oro-chan and he sent a bunch of people after him,” Ino began.  “Death by decapitation, senbon, poison.  The possibilities are endless!”

Kabuto chuckled at the eight year old but then frowned.

“Isn’t your birthday coming up?”

“I’ll be training with Oro-chan, so it won’t matter!” Ino exclaimed.  “Plus, I don’t really like my birthday.  It was the day Kaa-san got hospitalized.”

Kabuto nodded his head, but then sighed.  Poor, poor Ino-chan.  He went to leave.

“Bye Yamanaka-san!” he called over his shoulder, but Ino had already disappeared.  She wasn’t interested in the least by Kabuto’s unfinished tea or anything.  More likely than not, she was going to explore the village some more.

 

* * *

 

In the end, Ino did finish exploring the village, walking around it enough times to know where everything was and committed it to memory.  She then met the most interesting character she had ever met, disincluding Uzumaki Naruto.

“You’re name is Killer Bee and you rap?” she asked, chewing on pocky again.  “Right, because that makes more sense than anything else.”

The brown skinned man glared at her through his black, bug like glasses.

“Well, here we have a disbeliever, and I can’t believe her!” he chanted and Ino sighed.  “She’s young but man, that stung!”

“You’re horrible.” Ino stated.

“EHH!?”

“I’m leaving now,” she stated, turning around and walking away to the park.  “I’m not sticking around to catch the crazy.”

“What do you mean?” he demanded and Ino turned to look at him with a dull blue eye.

“You suck at rapping,” she stated.  “Maybe go into a career of singing instead.  It’d be better than whatever that trash was.”

“Hold up,” the guy ordered, grabbing the blonde’s arm.  “Who are you?”

“Yamanaka-Chairono Ino,” Ino introduce.  “Killer Bee and I’m guessing that you’re a tailed beast holder too.  The Naibi, right?”

Killer Bee stared at the eight year old blonde girl.  There was no way-

“See ya.”

“She’s the mystery,” Killer Bee chanted.  “The mystery of the century.  Yeah.”


	10. Ninth

**May**

Ino’s breathing was heavy.  Her legs felt like lead and she could feel the blood spilling from her mouth.  Spitting the iron taste away, the blonde shot up and rushed to another tree.

Just in time too.  The tree that she was previously hiding in exploded and she could hear the swinging of knives and swords, the swish of the hunter nin’s prefered weapon as it sliced through the air.

The blonde Yamanaka had been like this for the good portion of the week, darting back and forth.  She had yet to kill someone, but she was wishing that she could run them through with the katana that Orochimaru had given her sometime when she was seven.  Or eight.  She didn’t remember.

She was dressed in a purple tank top, a necklace that she found in a present her mother prepared for her tenth birthday.  When she found it, she never took it off.  Fishnet went up from her wrists to her mid-biceps and from her mid-thighs to her ankles.  Black shorts  and the customary black ninja sandals finished the look.

“Oro-chan!” she shouted, dodging a kunai that pinned right where her hand should have been if she didn’t move.  “You can stop now!”

With a sudden chop to the head, Kabuto stepped out of his hiding spot, kunai, shuriken and senbon throughout his hands and body.  Orochimaru appeared behind the blonde, staring down at her.

“Ino-chan, it doesn’t matter if you can’t beat them,” he began.  “If you can run, then you can outrun or out think them.”

“Yeah, you repeat that almost every twenty minutes,” Ino sighed, rolling her eyes.  “Seriously, I get it!  But can we just slow down?  I’m nine!”

“You’re not nine.” Kabuto muttered, placing the weapons away.

“Tsu-no-me-chan!” Ino shot back and received another chop to the head.  “Child abuse!”

Orochimaru gave the nine year old a disbelieving look.  He had perfected the genjutsu disguise and had survived an hour long interrogation session with Ino’s family.  So, Kimine Kyoshi had become her teacher and they allowed him to take her outside the village for the entire year.  She just had to visit sometimes during the year.

“You know, we can improve your medical ninjutsu,” Kabuto called and Ino perked up.  “We can start with your bruises.”

“Anything but the torture Oro-chan puts me through!” Ino exclaimed, shooting over to the white haired boy.

“It’s called training.” Orochimaru commented dryly as he followed the blonde over to where Kabuto was sitting.  As the white haired boy explained the basics of medical ninjutsu to Ino, Orochimaru wandered away.  They had their supplies in scrolls, Ino carrying a small backpack full of her weapons and training supplies.

“I did it!” she suddenly exclaimed and Orochimaru jumped.  Already?  It’s only been half-an-hour.  She was turning into someone he never expected to be a genius.

 

**June**

They stopped at an inn because of Ino.  No, it was not because of her whining or begging for a shower, it was just that she refused to bathe.  She said that if she could deal with this, she could handle anything.

She got so dirty, they just decided that she needed to bathe.

“I’m not that dirty!” she shouted.

“My student or not, I value proper hygiene!” Orochimaru growled, disguised as Kyoshi, and pulling the blonde girl behind him.

“You live in a labyrinth underground!” Ino argued, being dragged across the inn’s floors.  “Seems controversial, doesn’t it!?”

“Sorry,” Kabuto quickly apologized and followed after the student and teacher.  “Ino-chan, shut up for a minute!”

“Well, tell this bugger to stop dragging me by my sprained wrist!” Ino shouted back.

“You’re right one is sprained!” Orochimaru exclaimed.  “Not your left!”

“I’m ambidextrous!” Ino defended.  “Right for writing and using weapons, left for everything else!”

“Meaning what exactly?” Orochimaru demanded as they got a room.  “That you’re mostly right handed?”

Ino gave him a glare.  “More like I write and throw with my right hand and my left hand I trained for defense, slashing, catching and using a blade!” Ino explained, finally pulling her hand out of her teacher’s grip.

“So, that’s why you used your right hand as a cushion?” Orochimaru clarified.  Ino quickly bobbed her head.

“Alright then,” he sighed.  “Ino-chan, go and take a shower.  You’ll sleep then and then we’ll head to Oto.  I have some things in the hideout that you can use.”

“Like what?”

Orochimaru gave a cruel smile.  “Why, things for your training, of course.”

 

* * *

 

Ino decided that she liked the sun.  And the grass.  Not to mention trees that weren’t about to blow over if a strong gust of wind came around.  However, she also liked the secret hideout that she was allowed in for the year.  She liked the lab, where they developed experiments.

What she didn’t like was waking up in the morning and stumbling around, half asleep, and accidentally walking into what she thought was the kitchen when it was actually the place where Orochimaru was developing the curse marks.  She also didn’t like waking up to having nutrient water in her mouth.  That was the stuff she called it because that’s where her teacher made sure his creations were healthy.

She hated drinking that stuff.

“Did you drink snake venom again?” Kabuto asked as Ino stumbled around the lab, having slammed her head on the table she was working at a little too hard.  Kabuto had entered the room to Ino stumbling around like a blubbering mess.

“Magic clones,” she muttered, laying flat on her back and staring at the ceiling.  “Not lasting.”  She shot into a sitting position, making her head spin.  “I figured it out!”

“What?” Kabuto asked, setting down the new order of medical supplies he got.  “What do you mean, Ino-san?”

“Give me a minute,” Ino ordered, then slowly got up.  “Hey, when I figure out how to use Medical ninjutsu, I’ll be able to cure my concussions!”

“You got another one?!”

Ino gave the big brother figure in her life a deadpan stare.  “You know me too well, Kabu-nii-san.”

Kabuto sighed but walked over to the blonde quickly.  She did not need another concussion.  It was making her more insane than she already was.

“Let’s get started, shall we?” he asked, and Ino nodded quickly.  “You need really good chakra control for this, which Orochimaru-sama has already taught you.  Remember walking upside down with only your feet?”

Ino quickly nodded.  That one had given her the sprain in her left hand.

“We start by using something nearly dead and you having to revive it,” Kabuto explained.  “Got it?”

Ino nodded.  Both Kabuto and Orochimaru learned early on that Ino learned a little bit different than other children.  Or people for that matter.  She had to read up on the topic first, then understand the beginnings of it.  She didn’t need any guidance, only being self taught.  If she needed help, she would ask.

It took her three weeks before she could actually do it.  The reason was that she left it to practically rot before trying to revive it.  She could do that, but she always gave it too much and the fish’s head would explode.

She would just poke at it, and exclaim cheerfully;

“This is the Cerebellum!”

Kabuto shivered every time she found all the parts and reassembled them.  Orochimaru walked in during one of their lessons, took one look at Kabuto covered in a full lab suit, a dead fish missing it’s head(and parts of it’s stomach) and eight year old Yamanaka Ino sitting on the roof, scraping something that suspiciously looked like gum off the roof with a spatula and walked out.  He muttered things under his breath about giving Ino a psychology test sometime during the year, but Ino didn’t hear.

Luckily, Kabuto was too happy to comply with the order.

 

**July**

“You know,” Orochimaru commented as Ino practice with her katana during the third month of their year together.  “I’m starting to wonder when she’ll actually _stop_ practicing.”

Kabuto stood beside him, staring at the blonde nine year old with a flat look.  He was tired of her being like this.

“Honestly, I’m kinda just wondering what would happen if we let her visit Konoha in September.” Kabuto added.

“Has she gotten anything from Kumo?” Orochimaru asked.  Kabuto shook his head.

“Only thing is that has come up is that Heiwa misses his ‘Nee-chan’ a lot,” Kabuto murmured.  “He wants to play with her soon.”

“Why don’t we let him come with us for a week then?” Orochimaru asked, leaning back as Ino practiced the series again.  “He can learn early.”

“Oro-chan!” Ino whined.  “Hurry up and say something!  I wanna know if I’m doing it wrong!”

“Ino, you’re doing everything perfectly!” Orochimaru replied.  “Just take a break!”

A few minutes later, Ino came skipping over to the pair, a towel around her neck and a water bottle in hand.

“Whatcha talking about?” she chirped.

“Oh, just about training Heiwa-san for a week or so,” Kabuto dismissed with a wave of his hand.  “Nothing special.”

Ino froze, the water bottle halfway to her mouth.  Turning to look at Kabuto, an eerie grin made its way onto her face.

“You will be doing no such thing,” she ordered, making both of her teachers jump.  “Hei-chan’s not going anywhere near you two.  He’s my baby.”

“Okay!  Okay!” Orochimaru exclaimed, cutting both of them off.  “We won’t go near Heiwa-san!”

“Promise?” Ino asked, her eyes wide and unblinking.

“Promise.” Orochimaru swore.  “When I attack Konoha, I will keep him out of harm’s way.”

“But I’ll be doing that, Oro-chan!” Ino argued, her bright, blue eyes glazed over.  “I’ll protect him!”

“How?” Kabuto asked.

“Clones!”

Orochimaru stiffened.  They did not need another fifteen Yamanaka Ino’s running around the bases.  One was enough.

“Have you mastered Kage no Bunshin yet?” Kabuto asked.

“Uh-hmm!  I have my own technique though!” Ino exclaimed.  “Real life clones, but with the idea of Kage no Bunshin!  They’ll rot away when I’m done with them!”

Orochimaru quickly disappeared into a cloud of smoke.  Staring at the spot where he once was, both Ino and Kabuto shared a confused look.  A feral scream was released from the distance, making Kabuto look down the halls in worry.

“Did I make Oro-chan mad?” Ino asked, looking at a confused Kabuto.  He just shrugged.

 

**August**

Ino’s head hit the desk again, only to bounce back up when she woke up.

“You okay?” Kabuto asked, watching her continue her task.

“Picture perfect!” Ino exclaimed then promptly fell asleep.  Kabuto turned to stare at her flatly, only for her to fall out of her chair.  She didn’t wake up, which wasn’t surprising.

“Did she finally cave to sleep?” Orochimaru called from the hall.

Kabuto took her pencil and carefully poked her on the cheek.  Ino’s head painfully smacked into the concrete ground, but she didn’t wake up.

“Yup.” Kabuto called.  “Honestly Yamanaka,” he sighed as he picked her up.  “It’s okay to sleep once in awhile.  You don’t need insomnia to make you even more insane.”

The white haired teen passed Orochimaru on his way down the hall to Ino’s room.

“Tell me again exactly why we can’t give her the sleeping pills?” Kabuto asked after he had unceremoniously dropped Ino on her bed.

“They have a certain ingredient that makes Yamanaka's tend to go into full insanity mode,” Orochimaru began.  “It heightens all mental illnesses.  She would gain ADHD, Anxiety, etc.  She’s really better off not having it.”

Kabuto sighed.  “Fine.  But can we at least have some sort of thing to make her tired?”

Orochimaru shrugged, just as a chicken appeared in front of them.

“Stop letting her choose the animals she gets to dissect,” Orochimaru ordered, giving Kabuto a flat stare.  “I have a farm somewhere in here.”

“Of course, Orochimaru-sama,” Kabuto nodded.  “Should we get her to make it into a meal?”

“Yes.”

 

**September**

“Happy second birthday, Hei-chan,” Ino exclaimed, throwing confetti all over the newly crowned two year old.  He giggled happily, grabbing the paper excited.  “Two years since I first met you.”

Orochimaru and Kabuto had decided that Ino needed to be at Heiwa’s second birthday.  She was sweeter around him, and she laughed as he gurgled happily.

“This might just be me,” Orochimaru, disguised as Kyoshi, admitted.  “But shouldn’t Heiwa-kun be talking a bit by now?”

“We’ve tried,” Kiko sighed, handing him a drink.  “But he just won’t talk.”

“That’s a shame,” Kabuto sighed, his nose stuck in a medical ninja textbook.  “Heiwa-kun should be talking soon, if it’s any help.”

“Ina-baku!” Heiwa exclaimed cheerfully as Ino spun him around the room.  Her eyes were different than when she was with Orochimaru and Kabuto.  It was raw, pure, undiluted happiness, joy, contentment and so many other emotions, it made Orochimaru forget that she was insane.

Ino was humming a tuneless song, dancing around with Heiwa.  They were the closest people to each other.  Heiwa was obviously closer to Ino than Kiko, but the Chairono didn’t seem to mind.

“Ino-chan told me that she was the one who found Heiwa-kun,” Orochimaru sighed, watching the two dance in the sunlight.  “She gave him to you because she didn’t want him to end up in the foster care system.”

Kiko laughed.  “That’s true,” she admitted.  “But I’m happy Ino can still smile like that.  She doesn’t anymore, unless she’s around Hei-kun.  They’re so close.”

“Ima!” Heiwa exclaimed again, reaching up to Ino.  She had just set him down to get him his present, but he wanted her.  Ino squatted down next to him.

“Ino-nee.” Ino pointed at herself.

“Ima!” Heiwa repeated.

“Ino-nee,” Ino repeated, sitting down in front of the boy.  “Can you say that, Hei-chan?  Ino-nee?”

“Imo,” Heiwa tried, and all the adults froze.  “Imo-na.”

“N _ee_ ,” Ino laughed, pulling the two year old onto her lap.  “Ino-nee, Hei-chan.”

“Imo-nae?  Ino-”  Ino’s eyes shot open in shock.  “Ino-nae!”

Sumire squealed in the kitchen, Yinshi and Yangshi covering their ears as she let it out, and then they did it themselves.

Yinshi and Yangshi were Sumire and Daiki’s fraternal twins.  They were a year older than Ino, and in training to become Kumo shinobi.  Yangshi was the male twin, older than his sister by one hour.  He had platinum hair and black eyes, while Yinshi was the opposite.  Her hair was an ash blonde and her eyes were a light hazel.

“What’s all the noise?” someone asked, coming down the stairs.  Ino was hugging Heiwa tightly and Yinshi and Yangshi were both cooing at him excitedly.

“Ah!” Sumire exclaimed, rushing up to her oldest.  “Shi-kun!  Heiwa-kun just said his first word!”

Ino’s cousin turned to look at the baby in surprise, and then smiled brightly.

“Hello Heiwa-kun!” Shi greeted.

 

**October**

“Happy birthday!” Ino exclaimed on October 10th, after jumping on Naruto’s back.

“Gah!” the blonde yelped as soon as Ino screamed and destroyed his left ear’s hearing.  “Ino-chan!” he exclaimed happily, wrapping her in a tight hug.

“Naru-kun!” Ino returned with the same amount of pressure.  “How’s school?”

“Boring,” Naruto pouted, crossing his arms over his chest.  “It’s so boring without you there, Ino-chan.”

“Well, I’m back for a week!” Ino announced, pointing on finger up in the air.  “Let’s have fun for the rest of the week, Naru-kun!”

“Okay, Ino-chan.” Naruto agreed, and they turned away from the gates.

Orochimaru and Kabuto gasped for breath, panting on their hands and knees, Orochimaru leaning on the welcome desk.  Both were disguised, Orochimaru as Kyoshi and Kabuto as a long, black haired boy with white tips.

“Is that okay, Kyoshi-sensei?” Ino asked, bending over backwards in such a way that Naruto promptly ran to the bushes to empty his stomach.  Izumo and Kotetsu weren’t much better.

Orochimaru waved Ino off, coughing and choking and wheezing as he tried to catch his breath.

“I am in shape, but that’s a new level!” Kabuto gasped, rolling and flattening onto his back.

Orochimaru just coughed as he tried to regain his breath, using the welcome desk as a support beam.

“She’s eating so much dango when we get back,” he finally announced, and the two gatekeepers stared down at him.  “I swear, I want to see her as the fattest person alive.”

“That’s impossible, sensei,” Kabuto muttered.  “She has a too fast metabolism.”

“Hey, you guys need some medical nin?” Kotetsu asked, offering them disposable water bottles.

“No,” Orochimaru gasped.  “Just a new student who doesn’t sprint all the way from Suna to Konoha in three hours.”

Izumo and Kotetsu shared a look.

“Huh?”

 

* * *

 

“Kiba-kun!” Ino screamed, latching herself to the Inuzuka in an instant of seeing him.  They were sent flying ten meters and through a wall.  Naruto quickly ran to check on them, Akamaru joining him.

Ino was sitting up in front of a pile of rubble and Naruto swore he saw a tail and ears on her, the tail going 100 kilometers a second.  Kiba’s head was poking out of it, along with one of his arms.

“Uh, you guys alright?” Naruto asked, as Kiba collapsed.

“What was that!?” a chunin exclaimed.  “A enemy?”

“Brat,” someone announced, walking up to the hole in the wall.  He had blonde hair and green eyes, no hitai-ate, but he sounded like he was getting tired of Ino’s enthusiasm.  “What are you doing?”

“Ino-chan?” another person asked, looking around the first person.  He had black hair that went down to his mid back, with white tips, round glasses perched on his nose and grey eyes.  He was younger than the first person, but older than Ino.  “What did you just do?”

“Kuba-nii!  Kyo-sensei!  Look!” Ino exclaimed, pointing at Naruto and the pile with Kiba under it.  “This is Naru-kun and this is Kiba-kun!”

“... Hello,” the boy greeted Naruto, a flat look on his face.  “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“But Kiba-”

“Kyoshi-sensei will get him out,” he promised.  “Please, I really need to talk to you.”  They moved a little from the giant hole in the building.  “Now, your name?”

“Uzumaki Naruto.”

“Great,” he sighed.  “My name is Yakuma Kuba.  Now, do you have any methods to control Ino-chan?”

Naruto blinked and looked around Kuba towards the hole.  Ino was peering inside it, watching as the man, Kyoshi, chucked pieces of rubble off Kiba’s body.

“Nope,” Naruto announced, and Kuba deflated.  “Sorry.”

“No problem,” Kuba sighed.  “Do you have anything to eat?”

Once again, Naruto shook his head.  “I was going to go grocery shopping, but Ino-chan took the chance.”

“She’ll make you a cake,” Kuba sighed.  “She probably did, considering how full that scroll of her’s is.”

“KUBA-NII!” Ino shouted, and Kuba was suddenly on the ground, a grinning Ino on his back.  “Let’s take Naru-kun shopping!”

Kuba eyes were rolling, clearly dazed.  “Kuba-nii?” Ino asked, pulling out a dull senbon and prodding him with it.  “You with us?”

“I don’t think he’s with you,” Kyoshi told her, supporting the nine year old Kiba as his head rolled around, still spinning from Ino’s attack.  “Also, why did you attack him?”

“He’s a friend!” Ino exclaimed, and went back to poking Kuba in the cheek.  Naruto quickly got rid of it, snapping it in two and tossing it in the garbage.

“I got your presents, Naru-kun!” Ino exclaimed, and pulled out a scroll, labeled; ‘Naru-chan’s Birthday!’

“Not here, Ino!” Kyoshi exclaimed, quickly grabbing the scroll.  “I swear-”

“C’mon Naru-kun!  Kiba-kun!  Let’s get Hina-chan and we’ll celebrate Naru-kun’s ninth birthday!” Ino exclaimed, snatching the scroll, Kiba and Naruto’s wrist and shooting off towards the Hyuga Compound.

“You can stop pretending,” Orochimaru deadpanned, watching the cloud of dust that followed Ino as she ran.  “She’s gone.”

“Ow.”

“I should really hide the weights better.” Orochimaru admitted.  Kabuto gave his master the flattest stare Orochimaru had ever been on the receiving end of.

“No shit.”

 

**November**

Sabaku no Gaara had no idea how this came about, nor did he recall how it happened.  A girl, with skin too pale for Suna, had appeared out of nowhere and kidnapped him.  She even knocked him out, for heaven’s sake!

When he finally had enough conscience, he ripped open the bag, only to find her and himself in a _temple_ , and her watching him while she was drinking tea.

Staring at her in the early morning light did not only blind him, but made him go insane even more.  Shikaku was screaming at him, telling him to kill her for the sake of it.  Gaara was more than happy to oblige.

When he first thought that he had hit her, she was nowhere in the temple, instead hanging by her legs on a tree branch.  Upside down.  Her long, practically white hair was flowing down towards the ground and her curious, oddly glazed over eyes watched his every move

“Oni-chan!” someone called, and the girl quickly flipped off the branch.

“Look Kabu-nii!” she exclaimed, pointing at Gaara.  “I made a friend from Suna, just like you asked!”

The boy, with white hair tied back into a low ponytail stared at Gaara and then seemed to deflate.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, walking over to Gaara.  “I take it that she kidnapped you?”

Gaara stared at him, completely confused.  Who was this man, who the little blonde girl called older brother?  An idiot?

“I did not!” the girl exclaimed, pouncing on the boy’s back and latching on.  “Tell him, Aka-chan!”

“Is your name really Aka?” Kabuto asked, his eyebrows rising.  Gaara shook his head.  “Ino-chan…” he said in a warning tone.

The girl let out a scream as she dashed away from the white haired boy, only to collide with a tall, blonde, green eyed man.  He surveyed the situation, and Gaara heard Shikaku growl.

“Ino, did you kidnap another person?” the man asked, looking down at the pale blonde girl.

“Aka-chan is friendly!” the girl argued.  The man took one look at Gaara and turned to the nearest tree.  His forehead met the bark with a loud thump.

“Save us, Kami-sama,” he begged under his breath.  “Save us.  Please, save us from the demon-”  The rest was lost to Gaara as the white haired man sighed and offered his hand to Gaara.

“Yakushi Kabuto,” he introduced.  “The one who kidnapped you is Ino and the one with his head against the tree is Kimine Kyoshi.  He’s our teacher.”

“I’m Gaara,” Gaara growled lowly.  “Take me back to Suna.”

Kuba sighed.  “I will, Gaara-san.  I just need to knock Ino-chan out before she forces you to join us.”

Gaara nodded and at once, Kuba pounced on Oni in an instant.  She screamed, but a needle quickly punctured her skin.  She flopped down, fast asleep two moments later.

Kabuto sighed and took a deep breath.

“Excuse us, sensei,” he asked and began to lead Gaara down the path, back to Suna.  Gaara looked back to see Kyoshi prodding Oni with a stick, and then switching to a senbon.

He shook his head.  They were a bunch of misfits, through and through.  He swore to never get involved with them, even if they begged him.

 

**December**

Ino’s head was filled to the brim with stupid ideas, Kabuto realized too late.  Of course, he and Orochimaru leaving her alone for _one hour_ in the base in Oto was safe, but clearly not.

She had decorated it to her heart’s content, different coloured lights greeting the pair when they returned to their main base.  Kabuto nearly dropped the orange he was peeling, just at the sight.  Orochimaru was not much better.

It got worse as they moved further into the base.  Instead of the dank, dark halls that the three prefered, only lit with artificial light, it was filled with colourful light bulbs.  At the center, where they usually trained, was Ino.

She was wearing bright colours, a pair of plastic deer horns, and a horribly, ugly sweater that pulsed with different colour lights.  Kabuto felt Orochimaru go stiff beside him, but he couldn’t find a reason to care.

Because, at the very center, was a fully lit christmas tree, completely decked out.  How she did this in less than an hour, Kabuto didn’t know.  He didn’t want to either.

Orochimaru coughed beside him, gaining the insane blonde’s attention.  When she finally moved, Kabuto realized that there were five others, all doing their own jobs.  In the distance, he could hear another two screaming joyfully as they made the base a Christmas wonderland.

“Ino-chan?” Orochimaru asked, looking quite choked at the sighed.  “What happened?”

“Merry christmas, Oro-chan!  Kabu-nii!” one of the Ino’s called down from the ceiling.  She was hanging upside down, just placing streamers all around.

“We’re out getting presents!” another crowded.  She was decorating the top half of the tree, but Orochimaru couldn’t help but get even paler.

“Oro-chan!  Kabu-nii!” one of them exclaimed, popping up beside them.  “Come and look!”

Orochimaru let out a feral scream at the latest discovery, Kabuto sprinting back outside the base to do the same.

Ino smiled at them happily, proving just why.

Their labs were the epitome of christmas cheer.

 

**January**

Kabuto poked Ino’s cheek, his hands covered in thick gloves.  The land of Iron was snowing, and Ino decided it was high time she got hypothermia.

“You dead yet?” Orochimaru asked, watching from a pine tree branch.  He was also bundled up, although more than both Kabuto and Ino.  He was practically a reptile with how he responded to the cold weather.

“Mfff.” was Ino reply.

“Are you cold?” Kabuto asked again.  Ino kicked her right foot, meaning no.  “How come?  You’ve been in the snow for almost an hour!”

Ino shifted so her mouth was visible to both Kabuto and Orochimaru.  “You try being bundled up to the point that you’re a living toaster, and then you can talk.”  Her face went back to the snow.

“I hear people,” Orochimaru called, quickly shifting to his Kyoshi mask.  Kabuto changed to his Kuba genjutsu, but continued to poke Ino’s cheek.  “Oni-chan, get out of the snow to greet them.”

“Mfff.”

“Hello?” several samurai asked, walking up to them.  “Who are you?”

“Kimine Kyoshi.” Orochimaru sighed, watching Ino begin to dig underground.

“Yakuma Kuba.” Kabuto introduced, still poking Ino.

“Mmmff.” came Ino’s muffled response.

It was silent for a while, about ten minutes before one of them worked up the nerve to talk to them.

“So, what are you doing?” he asked.

“She wants to see if she can get hypothermia,” Kabuto sighed.  “So far, it’s not working and she’s just as warm as before.”

“How long have you been at this?” another one asked.

“An hour,” Orochimaru sighed.  “You wouldn’t have a match, would you?”

“Why?”

“To light her on fire,” Kabuto explained.  “We need to get going, but she won’t budge.  I really don’t want to deal with those weights again.”

Orochimaru hummed in agreement.

With a loud roar, Ino shot up from the ground.  Standing up, she waddled over to where Orochimaru sat and waved him down.

“This place is defective,” she announced.  “Let’s move to the heart of the Land of Iron!”

Kabuto and Orochimaru froze as Ino began to waddle away, too bundled up to walk normally, towards the heart of the Land of Iron.

“HELL NO!”

The samurai decided to leave the three along, considering they were all insane.

 

**February**

Ino hung by her feet off a branch, sticking out of a cliff.  Kabuto and Orochimaru was watching her from the bank, waiting boredly.

“You done yet?” Kabuto yelled up.  She had been at it for more than an hour, and even they could see the redness in her face.

“Nope!”

“I hope she falls.” Orochimaru sighed, watching his student through half lidded eyes.  “Then I can say, I told you so.”

“She’d wring your neck if you did.” Kabuto laughed.

“No, that would just be yours.”

“Hardy, har, har.”

They returned to silence, watching as Ino hung by her feet vicariously.

“She should fall.”

“Definitely.”

 

**March**

“Ever heard the word, ‘sleep’?” Kabuto asked Ino as her head hit the table again after she fell asleep for the tenth time in five minutes.

“Sleep is for babies,” Ino quipped drunkenly, once again falling asleep and hitting her head on the table.  She shot up.  “Now, to finish all my medical ninjutsu training!”

“You’ve been awake for a month straight,” Kabuto yelped, throwing his arms wide.  “Take a break and _sleep_!”

“Never heard of it~!” Ino sang and went back to reading the books that Kabuto had given her.  It was her last book and then she was done.

“That was supposed to be done over the course of two months!” Kabuto exclaimed, and Orochimaru paused at the door.

“Sleep is such a thing, Ino-chan,” Orochimaru sighed as she read through the last two pages.  “Do you remember everything?”

“Yup!”

“Then sleep on it and tell us everything from chapter six in each book perfectly tomorrow,” he ordered.  “It’s a test.”

“Okay!”

Ino slid off her stool and quickly dashed towards her room.  She fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

“She’s not going to be able to do it,” Kabuto sighed.  “I swear, that girl…”

 

* * *

 

“I have …severely underestimated you,” Orochimaru announced, staring at the blonde girl with wide eyes at the table where the three of them always ate breakfast together.  “Don’t tell me you have a photographic memory too!”

“I don’t!” Ino exclaimed.  “I just remember everything when I’m tired!”

“You have insomnia.” Kabuto deadpanned.

“I do not!”

“Wanna bet?” he prodded, smirking.  Ino threw her fork at his head.  “Where did you even get that!?” he demanded, his face blue.

Orochimaru calmly sipped his coffee, watching the two adolescente argue.

“I swear, you two are siblings from a past life,” he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.  “You’re worse than Tsunade and Jiraiya.”

“I’m Jiraiya!” Ino claimed quickly, raising her hand up like a student wanting to answer a question.

“No way!” Kabuto shouted.  “I have white hair, you have blonde!  You’re totally Tsunade and I’m Jiraiya!”

“I dissect frogs because I’m bored!” Ino argued.  “You play with slugs for that stupid swamp garden of yours!”  Orochimaru, seeing the argument finished his coffee and disposed them at the kitchen.

“So?”

“Slugs are gross!”

“They are not!  They are amazing creatures-”

Orochimaru shut the door behind him, effectively blocking out the two bickering children.  A loud crash was heard, and Kabuto shouting;

“Ino-chan’s fault!”

“You’re the one who threw the chair at me!”

“I was blocking the steak knives flying at my face!  Where do you have all of those anyways!?”

Orochimaru quickly walked away from the dining area, hopefully to do more experiments in private.  He did not need bickering siblings to find him.

 

**April**

“How was it?” Kiko asked as she, Heiwa and Ino walked down the path towards Konoha from Kumo.  “Spending time with Kyoshi-san?”

“It was awesome!” Ino exclaimed, jumping through puddles.  “We even went to an abandoned mountain to train!  Kuba-nii was cool, teaching me basic medical ninjutsu.”

“We can improve it when we get to Konoha, if you want.” Kiko offered, but Ino shook her head.

“Kyo-sensei says that I shouldn’t,” Ino pouted.  “He also took away my weights!”

_“Don’t let Ino get any more weights!” Kyoshi ordered Kiko.  “She does not need them!  She’ll destroy the world if she does”_

“I’m sure he has a reason,” Kiko chuckled nervously.  Clearly, her niece had made an impression on the two ninjas.  Kuba was begging her to never let Ino near another fish, or animal unless she was allowed to kill it.  She didn’t know what that was about and when she asked, Kuba just shivered and muttered something about a fish brain on the ceiling.

“I can’t wait to see Kaa-san again,” Ino sighed happily.  “I didn’t see her all year, and I miss her.”

Kiko smiled down at her.  “I know what you mean,” she laughed.  “I can’t wait to see the flower shop again.  And my sister.”

Ino laughed and Heiwa giggled along.  “Ino-nee!” he exclaimed, having practiced his sister’s name for the past seven months.

“Come on, Hei-chan!” Ino exclaimed, picking him up and throwing him on her back.  “To Konoha!”

“Kono!” Heiwa repeated and Ino shot off down the path.

“Don’t get too far ahead!” Kiko shouted after them, but Ino only laughed in response.  Kiko laughed and shot after the pair, Ino laughing and Heiwa laughing with her.


	11. Debut

It was late June in the world of Shinobi and Ino had gone off on her own little adventure with Kabuto.  Well, and Orochimaru, but he was just supervising.

From the hideout.

Ino was skipping along, humming a tune that Kabuto didn’t recognize, but he was reading through another report on what Ino called Soul Clones.  He didn’t like them, but they could take a hit and would only die if Ino wanted them to.  Or if you fatally injured them.  Either worked.

“I think I should have a code name.” Ino announced, breaking the comfortable silence between her and her older brother figure.  “You know, like a stage name.”

Sweat rolled down Kabuto’s cheek and he gave her a flat stare.  “You mean an alias?”

“Yup!” Ino confirmed.  “Something stupid and petty, but smart and kind of hidden.  I was thinking Oni, because that’s what you whisper to Oro-chan whenever I’m doing something I shouldn’t be.”

Kabuto nodded, his eyes glued to the paper again.  “It can be traced back to you, but no one would care.  Smart.”

Ino hummed in agreement.  “Hey, who’s my contact anyways?”

“A guy named Matsuri.  Missing Iwa nin and someone Orochimaru-sama wants to recruit for help.”

Recruit meaning experiment.  This was always how they talked about the it in the open.  The two were wearing black cloaks, both having the hoods covering their heads.  It shadowed the top half of their faces so they couldn’t be recognized, but that didn’t mean that people weren’t tailing them.

Ino linked her arms behind her back and tapped her wrist rhythmically.  She was better at sensing people than Kabuto and every three taps was a person.  Or soul.  Just a human in general.

“Really?” she asked.  “I mean, c’mon.  It’s not that bad.”

Kabuto frowned.  “You were recruited slowly.  Not to many people are like this.”

Ino smirked, her white teeth glisten as the sunlight bounced off of them.  “Well, I’m not normal, am I?”

Kabuto smiled and tucked the report back into his cloak.  “No you are not, Ino-chan.  No you are not.”

 

* * *

 

They were attacked when they crossed the border into the Land of Hot Water.  Konoha shinobi surrounded them.  Two were there who Ino recognized, making her scowl.

“Well, this is a horrible development~” she sang.  “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven ANBU?  Is that really all they sent at us?”

Kabuto chuckled nervously.  “C’mon, t’s not really that bad.”

Ino pouted.  “But I wanted more.  You guys missed my birthday.”

A vein popped in Kabuto’s jaw.  “We didn’t!” he disagreed.  “We got you that new lab you wanted so badly!”

Ino shrugged.  “True, but I wanted to get a story!”

“A story?” Kabuto demanded.  “A fucking  _ story _ is what you wanted?”

“From Oro-chan, yeah!”

The ANBU shared looks as the two cloaked figures, completely confused.  Shouldn’t they be wanting to kill them soon?  The leader tapped his fingers along his thighs and two ANBU leapt into action.  The two brought their tantos down on both of them but one second, it wasn’t there, and the next, it was.

The little one had a purple hilted katana blocking the serpent’s tanto.  The other person, whoever it was, had dodged and and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Serpent landed on his feet, pushing against the backhanded block by the girl.

“I know you want your turn,” she said chillingly.  She forced the ANBU to lower his blade to look at her face.  A flash of blue and a chilling smile was all that was there.  “But be a good little boy and wait your turn.”

Her arm was bare of anything other than the cloak’s sleeve but marks began to swirl around it.  The ANBU leapt back several meters, just staring at her arm in horror.

“Wh-What is that?” the only female member whispered in horror.

Oni’s smile widened.  “A gift from Oro-chan!”  Her smile softened.  “You know, I really kind of like this.  My debut!  It’s my debut into the world!”

All of the ANBU blinked.

“What?”

The girl’s stance widened and she shifted her center of gravity.  She pulled the katana in front of her, smiling brightly and her eyes still shadowed.

“Come Konohagakure ANBU!  Try to kill me!  If I die, well, it’ll be a very short debut!”

And then, the ANBU got into position to kill Ino.

 

* * *

 

The partner duo from before, Serpent and Owl, launched themselves at the child again, who spun around in a dance and blocked them.  The child was fighting, but it was done so skillfully and gracefully, that the ANBU thought that they was dancing.

“They’re beautiful,” Warthog admitted before flying into the two against one fight.  Oni flipped up, dodging the swinging kunai and the shuriken.  They was in a crouched position and when they stood, they did slowly and with their weapon pointed at the ground.

With a slow creak, they raised it, far out from their body, in an obvious challenge.  Then, they flung senbon with such a force, it impaled Warthog, Serpent and Owl in the eghousagus.

The other four ANBU stared at the child in horror.

“Hey, this kid’s Academy age,” the sole female member, a woman nicknamed Cat, whispered.  “How long has he been with Orochimaru?”

“Well, let’s see,” the child said, holding up their tattooed fingers.  “Oro-chan has known me for about four years now, and I’ve been kidnapping for… the past year? then killing for the last two, and finally, experimenting for the entire time!”

The Squad leader knew that Cat’s eyes were widening behind her mask.  “Well, aren’t you just the sadistic little bitch.” she spat.

The child shrugged, like the insult did nothing to them.  “I do know what you mean.  I’m not a bitch through.  Oro-chan’s the bitchiest of us all!”  they threw their arms wide, making the sleeves of the cloak slip down to her elbows.

“Now, come at me, insolent assassin of the Hidden Leaf village!” she shouted gleefully.

Bear took a step back from the child.  “This kid ain’t normal, cap.  I think we take him in for questioning.”

“You saying this kid’s a guy?” Hawk demanded.  “I say they’re a girl.  What do you think, Cougar?”

The squad leader swallowed.  “I dunno.  Let’s just try to get a view of the face.”

Everyone nodded, and Oni sighed.  “You know, you could just ask what gender I am.  I wouldn’t tell you.  But, no matter!  Let us duel, brave and valiant shinobi!”

Bear sweatdropped.  “Either way, the kid has something wrong with their brain.”

 

* * *

 

The child sighed and their shoulders tightened.  “I’m real annoyed with all this chatter now,” they said.  “And I have grown bored playing with you.  Prepare to die.”  They sheathed their katana disappeared into the air.

Cat stiffened.  The kid was going around the squad so fast, none of them could see them.  They stopped in front of Hawk, their weapon still missing from their hands and shoved their hand straight through the ANBU’s chest.

Hawk made a gurgling sound and blood began to pour out of his mouth in a waterfall.  It drenched the child beneath, and they withdrew their hand from inside him.

A piece of flesh, so crushed, but was obviously Hawks heart laid in her blood covered hand.

“You weren’t prepared~” the child sang and dropped the mutilated organ on the ground.  They disappeared in a blur, once again.

They stopped in front of Bear next, in midair.  Wrapping their legs around his neck, they forced him to fall backwards and snap his neck on the way down.  Cat and Cougar both heard it, and their flight response skyrocketed.

The little child got off of Bear’s twisted body.  “Well, and here I thought that Konoha had better ways of trying to kill someone like me.  Guess not.”

“Do you think this is some kind of game?” Cat snapped and the child turned to look at the black haired woman.  “Do you really think, that killing someone, even if they’re your enemy, is some kind of game?”

From the kid’s body posture, Cat could tell the child was stumped.  “But, isn’t it?  And they aren’t dead.”

“Hawk’s heart is  _ right there _ !” Cat screamed, pointing at the organ.

They looked at it.  “Yeah, that guy’s dead, and so is this one-” the assassin kicked the dead Bear with her foot.  “-but those three aren’t.”  She pointed at the three fallen men who had senbon in their necks.  “I’m giving them to Oro-chan, and he can play with them.  That should make up for almost dying from drinking poison yesterday.”

Cat frowned.  She… wasn’t at 100 percent capacity to be fighting, and yet the child was taking their men out like that?

“There’s no way.” Cougar said, taking a step away from the child.  They disappeared, and their hand was through the his neck when they reappeared.  Cat’s eyes went wide behind her mask.

The child smiled.  “There’s always a way,” they told his limp body.  “I mean, c’mon I’m on drugs for the next day, but otherwise, I’m good.  Those drugs are giving me an extra boost, and Kabu-nii says that I should only use my chakra to get rid of all the poison.”

Cat fell to the ground as the girl shook the dead man off her arm, then, Oni turned to look at her.  Senbon in hand, Oni mercilessly made the nerves in both arms stop working, and stabbed one through her right foot.

Cat screamed in agony.  “Please!  I have a sister back home and-!”

The child crouched next to her and flicked her forehead, leaving a blood smear on it.  Cat breathed heavily, waiting for the inevitable.

“Don’t worry, Kitty Cat,” she said.  “I’m not killing you!  Not today anyways~”

_ Oh gods, she was going to become an experiment, wasn’t she? _

“You’re going back to Konoha and spreading the word about me!” the insane child exclaimed, shooting up and throwing her arms wide.  Cat blinked, the pain in her foot forgotten for a moment.

“HUH!?” she shouted in confusion.  “I’m going to what?”

The child sighed as if they were disappointed.  “I said, you’re going back to Konoha, give them the mission report and I have my debut!  Oro-chan will be so proud!”

Cat just stared at the child in shock.

“A squad should be here in a couple of hours, to make sure your all here still,” the child sighed.  “So, I think I’ll just leave you with a couple farewell gifts.”

She stabbed the woman in the thigh and tore her mask off.

“Oh, Yuhi Masaki huh?” they asked, and wiped the blood covering their hands over the brown paint, making it red.  They twirled a senbon in between their fingers and walked towards Cat.  The woman screamed in terror, causing several birds to take flight.

 

* * *

 

“Well, today was a good day, wasn’t it?” Ino asked as she skipped along, carrying a Matsuri over her shoulders and three other clones carry the three Konoha shinobi.

“They’re going to come after you,” Kabuto sighed as he began to write down the key points of the day.  “Orochimaru-sama will not be happy.”

Ino shrugged.  “If Oro-chan’s not happy, I’ll just explain my reasoning.  Plus, life is so much more fun this way.”

Kabuto sent the blonde girl with the blood covered mask a look.  “Ino, you know I respect you and everything, but you always take things way too far.”

Once again, the girl just shrugged.  “I debuted, no one knows who I am, I got a cool mask that I’m going to change and then I’m going to break into Yuhi-san’s apartment and making her scream.”

Kabuto sighed.  “They’ll know it’s a traitor from Konoha.”

“I’m joking.” Ino replied.  “I’m not actually, because then I could be found out.  I don’t want that till I’m about seventeen.”

Kabuto pulled his glasses off his face and began cleaning them with his cloak.  “Well, why in seven years?”

Ino smiled.  “Why, because otherwise, how else will I live?”

 

* * *

 

Chairono Kiko, Yamanaka Inoichi, Morino Ibiki and the Hokage stared at Yuhi Masaki, who trembled in the hospital bed, nearly a week after her meet up with Orochimaru’s forces.

She had been going under surgeries for the past week, the medics trying to make it so her bones were not as destroyed as they were from her encounter with Orochimaru’s personal assassin.  They were also trying to reattach certain muscles so that she could actually use them somewhat, instead of them just being limp.

Ino had volunteered to take care of Heiwa for the last half of the week, telling her aunt that she would love to spend some time with the four year old boy.  They had disappeared to the Yamanaka compound nearly two hours before the interrogation started.

“A young child did this?” Inoichi asked, his blue eyes wide in shock.  “Killed the entire squad and confined you to a wheelchair for the rest of your life?”

Misaki nodded sadly.  “And, I don’t even know anything about them other than they seem to be Orochimaru’s personal assassin and-or retrieval squad.  Her accomplice just called her ‘Imouto’.  Maybe they’re related.”

“We already have all of that though.  Anything else?” Ibiki asked the woman on the bed.

Misaki swallowed and looked down at her shaking hands.  “No.  I’m sorry, Morino-san.”

“It’s okay, Yuhi-san.” Kiko moistened her lips.  “I can try, but really, only Senju Tsunade can fix you.  I’m going to do my best though.”

Yuhi Misaki smiled.  Just maybe she could help out at the hospital then.  She could still support Kurenai.

Somewhere, on the other side of Konoha, Ino grinned.  Heiwa edged away from his cousin in the shop.  He still didn’t like that look on her face when something(good?) happened.


	12. Tenth

Ino spent her tenth birthday playing in the dirt.

Kiko just watched her as she played in the mud, laughing as Heiwa stared at her curiously.  The four year old was weird, that was for sure, but he was an Uchiha, so it was expected(Kiko was still unaware of her son’s heritage).

They finally left the mud when sunset hit, Ino completely covered from head to toe and in desperate need of a bath.

She went swimming in a river near Konoha instead.

* * *

 

The Sandaime Hokage had called a meeting of all the council to discuss someone of the most important concern.

As Jounin filed in, he and the other elders of Konoha were discussing some last minute plans and arrangements for the meeting.  All the clan leaders, that wanted to attend, sat down in their respective seats, Hiruzen quickly murmuring something under his breath to his assistant.

When everyone was settled, and someone had taken attendance, the meeting began.

“Today, we’re discussing a very sensitive matter,” the Hokage announced.  “The topic of the one person who killed Squad Nightmare, the main unit we use for targeted assassinations for the village.  For the most part, we don’t know much about this person, only that they are trained by Orochimaru and a close subordinate.”

Hiashi leaned forwards.  “Who is this character then?  Do they have a name?”

Shikaku looked up from the report that they had been all been issued to share a week prior, as well as the manila folder that the Hokage had gave him.  “We all read the report, right?  Inoichi-kun has even searched Yuhi-san’s mind for possible effects, but found nothing tampered with.”

“I can promise everyone in this room that there has been no metal tricks in Cat’s mind.  She is perfectly sane.  PTSD is a given, but this child has crippled her for life and killed her squad.” Inoichi announced.  “They are a fearsome foe.”

“We don’t even know the kid’s gender?” Inuzuka Tsume demanded, leaning back.  “Then what else do we have on them?  Inoichi-san?  Anything?”

Inoichi linked his fingers beneath his chin.  “I saw the memory, of course, but the child had a shadow covering their face.  Cat admitted she felt no chakra holding it down, and Owl and Serpent had even attempted to remove it, but failed.  She knocked them both unconscious, and then Warthog.  We have all read the report.  Everything in that is true.  I wrote it myself.”

“What about their gender?” Aburame Shibi demanded.

“It is an unknown,” Hiruzen announced.  “No one, not even Cat, can guess their gender.  The child is insane, by every means necessary, so we can assume nothing of their physical being.  It could be a hedge, or a genjutsu.”

“But Owl would have sensed that,” Haishi pointed out.  “Owl was part of the Hyuuga clan and he said he used his Byakugan every time he could during a mission.  When fighting the child, even having them in his sights, he would have known a genjutsu and hedge from the real thing.”

“True,” Shibi agreed.  “But we should have a guess.  From this information, I say that it is a male.  Not a female.”

“I agree,” Choza agreed.  He had not spoken the entire time, mostly just there for peacekeeping.  “But this child, can we be sure?”

“Of course not,” Tsume hissed.  “We have to be aware that they could be a girl or a boy.  It doesn’t matter, considering that they’re an enemy of Konoha!”

Hiruzen nodded.  “Well put, Tsume.  Well, Leaders, do we have anything to add?”

Choza raised his hand timidly.  Hiruzen nodded and the Akimichi took a deep breath.  “I hate calling a child just an it or referring to it as an object.  They can kill someone, so I think we need to come up with a name.”

“I agree to that,” Shibi nodded.  “You, Hyuuga-san?”

“I concur,” Hiashi nodded.  “This child needs to have a name if we are going to pursue them.”

“Do we know anything about which village they were from before?” Homura, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.  “That is invaluable information.”

“Unfortunately, no,” Shikaku piped up.  “This rogue ninja has nothing to identify themselves with.  They were, however, wearing a black cloak.  Perhaps somewhere where you require to use one?  Suuna, Iwa?”

“Doubtful,” Inoichi argued.  “We would have seen a glint, unless it was hidden under the cloak.  The child did not wear one.”

“We are trusting your word, Inoichi.” Koharu told the Yamanaka.  “But the problem lies in what we need to refer to them as.  We are adding them to the bingo book’s next edition, but we must call them something.”

Danzo looked over at his fellow council member.  “Why not just refer to them as Rogue Ninja?  This person we just need to gather more intelligence on.”

“True,” Homura nodded.  “The name will gain fame for its vagueness, but this child… we cannot underestimate them.”

The Sandaime Hokage looked at them all gravely.  “This girl is going to be added to the next Bingo Book edition, which will be printed in a month.  Find anything you can on them but do not go searching.  Intelligence is already searching for such a person, so do not go out of your way to find them!  The Heads of Konoha are dismissed!”

 

* * *

 

Ino stared down at the Iwagakure man, who just kept screaming something about Rogue.  For the oddest of reasons, she had been hearing that for the past few months, completely lost.

“Hey, Kabu-nii, did I get a name?” she asked once she got back to the base.

Orochimaru looked over at her oddly.  “I thought you knew, Ino-chan.  You’re nickname is The Rogue Ninja.  People have just come to start calling you Rogue.”

Ino blinked then grinned.  “Cool!  Now, do you want this blood or not?”

The Sandaime Hokage had called a meeting of all the council to discuss someone of the most important concern.

As Jounin filed in, he and the other elders of Konoha were discussing some last minute plans and arrangements for the meeting.  All the clan leaders, that wanted to attend, sat down in their respective seats, Hiruzen quickly murmuring something under his breath to his assistant.

When everyone was settled, and someone had taken attendance, the meeting began.

“Today, we’re discussing a very sensitive matter,” the Hokage announced.  “The topic of the one person who killed Squad Nightmare, the main unit we use for targeted assassinations for the village.  For the most part, we don’t know much about this person, only that they are trained by Orochimaru and a close subordinate.”

Hiashi leaned forwards.  “Who is this character then?  Do they have a name?”

Shikaku looked up from the report that they had been all been issued to share a week prior, as well as the manila folder that the Hokage had gave him.  “We all read the report, right?  Inoichi-kun has even searched Yuhi-san’s mind for possible effects, but found nothing tampered with.”

“I can promise everyone in this room that there has been no metal tricks in Cat’s mind.  She is perfectly sane.  PTSD is a given, but this child has crippled her for life and killed her squad.” Inoichi announced.  “They are a fearsome foe.”

“We don’t even know the kid’s gender?” Inuzuka Tsume demanded, leaning back.  “Then what else do we have on them?  Inoichi-san?  Anything?”

Inoichi linked his fingers beneath his chin.  “I saw the memory, of course, but the child had a shadow covering their face.  Cat admitted she felt no chakra holding it down, and Owl and Serpent had even attempted to remove it, but failed.  She knocked them both unconscious, and then Warthog.  We have all read the report.  Everything in that is true.  I wrote it myself.”

“What about their gender?” Aburame Shibi demanded.

“It is an unknown,” Hiruzen announced.  “No one, not even Cat, can guess their gender.  The child is insane, by every means necessary, so we can assume nothing of their physical being.  It could be a hedge, or a genjutsu.”

“But Owl would have sensed that,” Haishi pointed out.  “Owl was part of the Hyuuga clan and he said he used his Byakugan every time he could during a mission.  When fighting the child, even having them in his sights, he would have known a genjutsu and hedge from the real thing.”

“True,” Shibi agreed.  “But we should have a guess.  From this information, I say that it is a male.  Not a female.”

“I agree,” Choza agreed.  He had not spoken the entire time, mostly just there for peacekeeping.  “But this child, can we be sure?”

“Of course not,” Tsume hissed.  “We have to be aware that they could be a girl or a boy.  It doesn’t matter, considering that they’re an enemy of Konoha!”

Hiruzen nodded.  “Well put, Tsume.  Well, Leaders, do we have anything to add?”

Choza raised his hand timidly.  Hiruzen nodded and the Akimichi took a deep breath.  “I hate calling a child just an it or referring to it as an object.  They can kill someone, so I think we need to come up with a name.”

“I agree to that,” Shibi nodded.  “You, Hyuuga-san?”

“I concur,” Hiashi nodded.  “This child needs to have a name if we are going to pursue them.”

“Do we know anything about which village they were from before?” Homura, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.  “That is invaluable information.”

“Unfortunately, no,” Shikaku piped up.  “This rogue ninja has nothing to identify themselves with.  They were, however, wearing a black cloak.  Perhaps somewhere where you require to use one?  Suuna, Iwa?”

“Doubtful,” Inoichi argued.  “We would have seen a glint, unless it was hidden under the cloak.  The child did not wear one.”

“We are trusting your word, Inoichi.” Koharu told the Yamanaka.  “But the problem lies in what we need to refer to them as.  We are adding them to the bingo book’s next edition, but we must call them something.”

Danzo looked over at his fellow council member.  “Why not just refer to them as Rogue Ninja?  This person we just need to gather more intelligence on.”

“True,” Homura nodded.  “The name will gain fame for its vagueness, but this child… we cannot underestimate them.”

The Sandaime Hokage looked at them all gravely.  “This girl is going to be added to the next Bingo Book edition, which will be printed in a month.  Find anything you can on them but do not go searching.  Intelligence is already searching for such a person, so do not go out of your way to find them!  The Heads of Konoha are dismissed!”

 

* * *

 

“So, you want to explain to me why we’re finally having a heart to heart, five years late?” Ino demanded, leaning back in her chair while holding her blueberry soda.

Her father, who she had rarely seen since her mother was hospitalized, had decided to take her out for a father-daughter day.  He would never do something like this, Ino realized the second he had asked her.  So, he was trying to get in her good graces before dropping some sort of bomb on her.

“You wound me,” he chuckled, fingering his own beverage.  “Is it wrong for me want to spend time with my baby girl?”

“You never did before,” Ino shot back.  She wasn’t resentful, only a little wary.  A year with Orochimaru and Kabuto had her defenses full on, even if it didn’t seem like it.  She always had to have them slightly lowered, unless she was fighting.  “So, why should you now?”

Inoichi stopped moving, staring out into the busy street of the civilian district.  His eyes were old, staring at something that wasn’t there.  He placed his hand flat against the table, Ino watching him out of the corners of her eye.

“Ino, how long has your mother been in the hospital?” he asked, looking at the thing.

Ino thought back.  “Four years, eight months and three days.”

Inoichi moved his hands to his lap and tilted his head down so he was staring down at his lap.  “Don’t you think that she’s suffered enough?”

Ino froze, her drink poised at her lips.  She looked as if she was about to take a drink, but she slowly drew it away from her red lips.

“What do you mean?” she asked, looking over to the blonde man.

Inoichi’s fists clenched.  “I think it’s time we finally let her go.” he announced just as Ino took a sip of the drink.  Ino’s eyes shot open and the blueberry drink shot out of her nose and flew out of her mouth.

Pounding on her chest, she began to cough, trying to get a breath back into her lungs.  When she finally had enough time to regain her breath, she turned on her father.

“You what?” she growled, her blue eyes narrowing down.

“I’m thinking that it’s time,” Inoichi repeated.  “I think it’s time we let your mother pass on.”

“You want to kill my mother?” Ino clarified.  “You want to kill Kaa-san?”

Inoichi nodded his head in confirmation.  “We’ve all talked it over.  Daiki, Sumire, Kiko, we’ve all been talking,” Inoichi clarified.  “You’re just so… close to her.  Visiting her every day-”

“No!” Ino cried, grabbing her father’s shoulder.  “Please, don’t kill Kaa-san!” she begged desperately.  “She’s at the Yamanaka compound and we have our nurses protecting her!  Please, Otou-sama, please don’t kill Kaa-san!”

Inoichi didn’t spare a glance at his daughter.  “We’ve decided, Ino.  We’re pulling the plug on your mother.  She’s not getting better-”

“Till my tenth birthday!” Ino countered.  “Just till then, and then we can let her go!  Please!  I’m doing my own studies-”

“Enough!” Inoichi roared, turning to glare at his tearful daughter.  “Ino, you’re mother has been dying for the past four and a half years and damn time that we stop her suffering!  She  should go back!”

“No!” Ino cried, tears rolling down her cheeks as she desperately tried to convince her father otherwise.  “Please, Otou-sama, no!”

“It’s been decided, Ino!” Inoichi shouted, standing up.  Ino let go, tears rolling down her cheeks silently.  “It’s time.” he added, softer, slowly returning to his seat.

Ino stood up, her face bright red.  “I’m not letting you,” she whispered and slowly left her seat.  “I want to meet Kaa-san before she goes.  I want to talk to her.”

Inoichi didn’t give his daughter the time of day before, so why should he now?

Silently, Ino left the cafe, wrapping her arms around herself as she walked away.  Inoichi just let her.

Ino ended up in the forest and she climbed into a tree.  She bawled her eyes out as she returned to the conversation.  Her father only glared at her, he brought her out shopping for a day, only to not do it and to say that they were killing her mother.

Sobs turned into hiccups, which turned into silence.  Ino stared out, watching the sunset over Konohagakure as the village began to settle down for the night.  Her chakra was being masked, hiding her presence from the jounin and ANBU patrolling.

“Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight,” Ino sang softly as stars began to appear.  “I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight.”

The blonde swallowed, and kept on singing.  “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight.  I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight.”

Over and over, she kept repeating it, only stopping when the moon began to rise.  Then, her song and tone changed.

**~**

Uchiha Sasuke saw the Yamanaka girl walk towards his regular training grounds, her face stained red.  He rolled his eyes but began to follow her, veering off the path when he realized she was just wandering to the forest.

He heard her sobbing in the distance as he repeatedly punched blocks of wood.  By the time he was practicing the fire jutsu his father taught him, she had quieted enough that he couldn’t hear her crying anymore.  Then, at sunset, when he was packing up his kunai and shuriken up, he heard a throaty voice call out.

“Star light, star bright,” it sang.  “First star I see tonight.  I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight.”

It repeated it’s song, Sasuke recognizing it.  His mother sang it to him as a lullaby, the pitch was the very same as her’s.  Both of them had low, throaty voices that sang in minor keys.  Both voices were gorgeous, if anything else.  It was relaxing, he discovered, listening to whoever sang it.

He didn’t know how long he stood there, listening to the altone a cappella singer but they changed their song suddenly.

“Are you, are you, coming to the tree?” it sang.  “They strung up a man, they say who murdered three.”

It was a strange song, but it fit nicely with the place and tone.  It reminded him of his goal, but it made him feel peaceful, like it was the peace of the world calling to him.  Oddly enough, he found himself humming along as they sang.

**~**

Kiko stiffened when she heard her sister’s song coming from the forest.  Turning to look towards the training grounds, Heiwa paused in his giggling to listen.

“Strange things did happen here,” Kiko began to harmonize, singing the melody of the song.  It was an octave higher than the voice in the woods, but it didn’t matter.

“No stranger would it be, if we met, amid, amid that hanging tree,” she sang softly as she picked up Heiwa.  “Are you, are you, coming to the tree?”

**~**

Ino didn’t sleep that night.  She just sang her mother’s personal lullaby once and then stared at the village.  She just watched until the sun came up.  Nothing went through her brain, as she thought of nothing.

When the sun came up, she summoned a snake.

“Tell Orochimaru that we’re meeting up in the Land of Fire, near Konoha,” she ordered.  “I need to talk to him about some things.  And he better be here before the week’s over.”

When the snake slithered away, off to deliver the message, Ino once again leaned back against the tree, staring over the waking village.

“Are you, are you, coming to the hanging tree?” she sang softly, then went silent.

 

* * *

 

“Do you have a reason for calling me out in the oddest place possible?” Orochimaru demanded, glaring at the blonde girl in front of him.  She was sitting in a tree, staring off into the direction of Konoha, almost longingly.  “What happened?” he demanded.

Kabuto turned to look at his younger sister figure, staring at her hair as it moved through the wind.

“... Tou-san, Kiko-oba-san, Daiki-ji-san and Sumire-oba-chan are planning to kill Kaa-san.” Ino finally announced, her voice low and soft.  It was desperate, but accepting.  She sounded defeated.

Orochimaru and Kabuto shared a look.

“Oh, Ino,” Orochimaru sighed, leaping up to the branch and pulling Ino into a tight hug.  “Of course we’ll help you.”

Ino started to cry.  “But, Oro-chan, don’t you think that it’s time to let Kaa-san go?”

“Only if you want to,” Orochimaru sighed as his shirt got wetter.  Kabuto looked out towards Konoha, now full of understanding.

“What should we do?” Kabuto asked as Ino cried.

Orochimaru just watched over the sky.

“Ino’s going to debut in the underworld,” he announced darkly.  “Oni-chan is coming going to  _ destroy  _ the world.”

Ino cackle was muffled by Orochimaru’s shirt, but everyone heard it.  She was turning back to her insanity mode, again.

“You ready,  _ Devil-chan _ ?” Kabuto teased and Ino turned to look at the white haired boy.  She was going to have so much fun, playing the devil.

“Now then, if you have a week to be away, you can have a present,” Orochimaru prodded and Ino ran her tongue over her white teeth.

 

* * *

 

Ino stared at the body bag that her mother was in.

The Nara, Akimichi and most of the Chairono clan were there, along with a few of her mother’s closest friends.

Inuzuka Tsume was there, leaning against a tree as the coffin was being lowered into the ground.  Hyuga Hiashi stood there, but only for political gain.  Morino Ibiki showed up to support his co-worker.

None of her friends, save Shikamaru and Choji were there.  Kiba could have be there, so could Hinata, but they were both in school and had no idea this was happening.

Kiko and Heiwa were there, Kiko crying into Kakashi’s shoulder.  Why he was here was beyond Ino, but it meant that Heiwa could be sitting in her lap.

Ino was hiding on a lower branch of a tree, watching the body bag slowly disappear into the ground.  Heiwa was watching too, feeling the tension in the area radiate.

“Goodbye Kaa-san,” Ino whispered hoarsely.  People began to clear out, Kiko taking Heiwa with her to put to bed.  Eventually, it was only Ino left in the graveyard as the moon rose over Konoha.

“Are you, are you, coming to the tree?” she began to sing, leaping down and walking to where the displaced dirt pile was.  “They strung up a man, they say who murdered three.  Strange things did happen here.  No stranger would it be, if we met, amid, amid that hanging tree.”

 

* * *

 

Momochi Zabuza was perplexed how this situation came about.  One minute, he and Haku are hunting a Kiri nin who they were hired to kill, the next, they were greeted by a blonde girl with glazed eyes poking the female’s unconscious cheek.

“Kabu-nii, is this Maihana Kumi?” she called out, and a white haired boy appeared from the tree line, carrying a bingo book.

“Yes Ino-chan,” he sighed and snapped the book closed.  “You can kill her and then we can go and drop her off.”

“I can’t play with her?”

“They need her head to identify her,” the boy sighed.  “You can’t make her head explode using medical ninjutsu.  That’s not it’s intended purpose.”

“Um, excuse me,” Haku called, looking at the two with raised eyebrows.  “Can we take her back to our employer?  We’ve been tracking her for the past three days and we want to get paid.”

The blonde girl turned to look at the pair and her icy blue eyes lit up at the sight of them.  Or more over, the huge sword on Zabuza’s back.

“Kabu-nii!” she exclaimed, leaping up and tugging on the boy’s sleeve.  “It’s Momochi Zabuza!  Can we get him to teach me?  Please?  Please?  Please?”

The boy just stared down at her flatly.

“Oro-chan said that if I found one of them and convinced them, I could!” she prodded.  The boy sighed and walked up to the unconscious woman lying on the ground.  Slitting her throat, the boy pushed the glasses up his nose.

“Go ahead, Ino-chan.” he sighed, pulling out a scroll.

Suddenly, the blonde girl was in front of him, looking up at him excitedly.  He didn’t like the look on her face, smiling innocently, but her eyes holding such a deep root in insanity.  It reminded him of the look on Hoshigaki Kisame when they fought together.

“I’m Yamanaka Ino!” she introduced, a little too excited for his liking.  “You’re Momochi Zabuza and you carry the Executioner blade!”

Clearly, she had done her research.

“Oro-chan tried to teach me, but all I’ve done is series,” she pouted.  “I wanna have a real swordsman to teach me!”

Zabuza blinked and turned to look at the white haired boy.  He wore a flat look, like he was waiting for Zabuza to crumble to the girl’s every whim.

“What do you mean, brat?” he asked.  “Who’s this Oro-chan?”

“She’s talking about the sannin, Orochimaru,” the boy sighed.  “I’m sorry that she’s bothering you.  You can refuse if you want.”

Zabuza held up a hand, looking into the girl’s hopeful eyes.

“How old are you Blondie?” he asked.

“I’m ten!”

“What village did you belong to?”  She turned to look at the boy.

“Kabu-nii, don’t I still live in Konoha?” she asked, completely confused.  “I still belong to it, right?”

The boy sighed.

“Ino-chan’s a spy,” he explained.  “She lives in Konohagakure, but none of them even know that she’s with us.”

“What’s your name?” Zabuza demanded, looking at the boy.

“Yakushi Kabuto,” he sighed.  “I’m Orochimaru-sama’s right hand man, and unfortunately, Ino-chan’s baby sitter.”

“He’s 17!” Ino exclaimed, and suddenly latched onto Haku.  “Who are you?”

“I’m Haku, Yamanaka-san,” Haku chuckled.  “I’m 14, by the way.”

“Whadda ‘bout Zabu-chan?” Ino asked and suddenly, there was a large shadow protruding over her.

With a loud scream of fake terror, Zabuza went to attack the girl.  She leapt away, and suddenly, it was a game of Death-tag.

“If Zabuza takes her on as a student, will this be a regular occurrence?” Haku asked, watching the game go on.

“Who knows,” Kabuto shrugged helplessly.  “Ino-chan hid an arsenal of utensils under our table to throw at me.  If she sees Momochi-san as a older brother, then yes, this will become a regular occurrence.”

Haku stared at the pair racing around the clearing.

“Oh dear.”

 

* * *

 

In the end, Zabuza agreed to take the young girl as a student, but only if she had her own sword.  Happily, she showed off the snake venom blade with a purple hilt.

“Purple was Kaa-san’s favorite!” Ino exclaimed.

That unnerved Zabuza even more.  Turning to look at Kabuto, he scrutinized the boy.  “Shouldn’t she be in the Academy still?”

Kabuto shrugged.  “She has a month off, to do whatever she wants, as she recovers from her mother’s death.”

“A shinobi?”

Kabuto almost answered then paused.  He looked to where Ino was showing Haku that she knew how to use senbon.  Not that well, but still.  “You know, I actually have no idea.”

“Oi, Blondie, was your Kaa-san a kunoichi?” Zabuza called and Ino paused.  Turning to look at him, she smiled innocently, but it gave him chills.

“She was, Zabu-sensei.”


	13. One Month

**Day 7**

“Zabu-sensei, I’m bored~!” Ino whined, hanging upside down by her feet. “What can I do~?”

“Shut up maybe?” Haku muttered under his breath, and Zabuza chuckled. They were a really odd duo to come across. Ino would draw the target’s attention away, usually by doing something so stupid, Zabuza nearly went to kill himself. Luckily, Haku was able to kill them before the irritation rose to hate.

“Haku started the fire, so go and catch us a rabbit or something?” Zabuza suggest. Immediately, the little devil disappeared with her katana. She had insisted that she was only allowed to use that, no other weapons while he was training her, so there was that.

Zabuza sighed and leaned back against the tree. “I think I might be getting too old to be teaching that brat.” he muttered.

Haku gave him a flat glare from over his shoulder. “Everyone’s too old for Ino-baka. She’s just too energetic.”

“What do you think she’ll look like when she’s a actual shinobi?” Zabuza shivered. That was… something that was unnecessary to answer.

“... I don’t want to think about it.” Haku shut down quickly.

* * *

“When I said rabbit, I meant a small furry thing with a pom pom as a tail and large, floppy ears,” Zabuza deadpanned, looking at the giant creature Ino had returned with. “This is clearly not a rabbit!”

“It had big ears!” Ino protested, pointing at the floppy things. “See?!”

Haku poked the thing’s cheek. “Ino-baka, where did you even get this?”

“Oro-chan has a lot more!” Ino exclaimed cheerfully. “He said I can take as many as I want to, as long as I make another one!”

Haku reappeared in the bushes, a loud coughing sound coming from him. Zabuza wasn’t much better, pure blue in the face.

“Don’t…” Haku gulped down the bile threatening to resurface. “Never make another one of… _those_.” he begged.

With a shrug, Ino turned and slid her katana down the belly. Warm blood splashed out, covering the platinum blonde and staining her clothes red.

Once again, Haku ended up in the bushes, puking his guts out. Zabuza at least swallowed it, but it was still unsettling to see a ten year old girl gut something so mercilessly that she smiled when doing so.

 

**Day 11**

Inoichi sighed as he wandered through his empty house. Ino was probably hiding again, or as she told Kiko, ‘going off to train with Kyo-sensei’, whatever that meant.

The clan head sighed. All that girl did was train, and he wondered if it had to do with his wife.  He missed her, almost like it was something gone from his heart.

He glanced at the walls in the private family room. It was covered in scratches and holes. He knew Ino spent a lot of time in the room, having seen several bandaids and clothes lying around in a pile. He glanced at the ground, spotting several kunai and shuriken lying around the room. He sighed and walked out.

Someone knocked on the door, smacking it loudly. With a frown, Inoichi went to answer it, and found himself face to face with his old teammates. Both were carrying a case of beer.

“Shall we drink?” Shikaku smirked and Inoichi almost laughed.

Almost.

 

**Day 12**

“You can’t dodge forever, brat!” Zabuza shouted, swinging his large blade at the blonde.

“Try me, Zabu-sensei!” Ino quipped back, leaping upwards and landing on the still swinging blade. “I will defeat you this time!”

Haku nearly screamed when the Executioner lodged itself into a tree right above his head. Ino froze and suddenly shot off, sprinting away from the clearing.

“Don’t kill me!” she screamed as Haku ran after her. “Please, Haku-chan, don’t kill me! Zabu-sensei was the one who threw it at you!”

“That doesn’t matter considering you were the one who disarmed him!” Haku shouted, throwing a wave of senbon at the blonde.

“Zabu-sensei!” Ino begged as she dodged and cut the senbon down. “Help me!”

Zabuza decided to get comfortable on the ground. The blonde appeared at the tree line and shot down the center to the other end. “Sorry brat,” Zabuza apologized sarcastically. “You brought this on yourself.”

“Bastard!” Ino shouted at him then screamed as the Executioner blade was sent flying at her head.

“Language!” Haku screamed ferally and another scream echoed from the forest.

“Why do I get the feeling you both actually enjoy her company?” someone asked and Zabuza jumped.  Beside him, was a white skinned man.

“Orochimaru,” he coughed a greeting. “She’s at least entertaining.”

A scream echoed again and then the forest returned to silence.

“I get the feeling that there’s worse going on when it’s silent.” Orochimaru confessed, taking a seat beside Zabuza.

“Does she have training to get to?” Zabuza asked, but the sannin shook his head.

“I’m only checking in on her mental state,” Orochimaru announced. “I think she’s doing fine though.”

Zabuza looked towards the forest that Ino and Haku were currently fighting in.

“I think she’s just bottling it up, along with a bunch of other feelings,” Zabuza explained. “That’s what making her go insane.”

 

**Day 17**

Ino poked the water, watching it ripple then jumped back as if it would hurt her.

“You do realize that it’s better to know how to swim, right?” Zabuza asked, looking at the blonde. “It’s a good workout.”

“I’d rather not.” Ino quipped, prodding the water again. “It’s all slimy.”

Haku sent the blonde a flat look. “We’re changing. Zabuza-sama, the suit.”

Ino sent the pair a odd look. “Why would I wear a suit for the water? Wouldn’t it get ruined?”

“Not a bathing suit,” Haku shot back, holding up a two piece swimsuit. “Go put it on, or I’ll make you go into the water in what you’re wearing right now.”

With the threat made clear, and the horror in Ino’s eyes present, she quickly ripped the suit from Zabuza’s hands and shot to the tree line.

While Ino was trying to understand the basics of putting a bathing on, Haku stripped and slipped into his own. Zabuza was playing lifeguard and lookout again as Haku taught Ino the basics of swimming.

“So, why are we doing this?” Ino asked after she finally figured the suit out. “I mean, it’s kinda useless, right?”

“Unless you have to swim through unknown territory,” Zabuza shot back. “You have to know how to swim unless you want to die.”

With a sigh, Ino slid into the water, shooting back out as she realize how cold it was.

“It’s cold!” she screamed, wrapping her arms around her.

“It will get better when we start moving,” Haku explained and dived into the water.  “I don’t suppose they have swimming lessons in Konoha?”

Ino nodded her head. “They do, I just skip all the swimming days to meet up with Oro-chan.”

Zabuza and Haku deadpanned. _“Stop doing that!”_ they screamed at her.

With a shrug, Ino jumped back into the water, submerging her entire head. She shot back up a second later, her lips turning slightly purple.

“What do I do first, Haku-chan?”

 

**Day 19**

Kiko stared down at three year old Heiwa. Something about him was off, like he wasn’t supposed to be alive. Not to mention, he looked suspiciously like a Nara or Uchiha.

But all Uchihas were dead.

Right?

 

**Day 20**

“Whaddaya mean you’re cousin is an Uchiha?” Zabuza shouted, staring at Ino was insane. Which she was. Most of the time.

The blonde returned to poking the fire. After the first mishap, Haku or Zabuza hunted for their meals. They did not want another mixed species.

“Hei-chan is so cute though~!” Ino sang. “He’s perfect, even if he is from a practically extinct clan! I’m going to take his and Uchiha-san’s DNA and clone them!”

“Why?!”

“Because I wanna see how they will both look like when they’re older!”

“Why?!”

Ino threw the smoldering wood at her sword teacher’s head. “Shut up, Zabu-sensei.” she pouted.

“You can’t just drop something like that on me and not expect questions!” Zabuza shouted. “It’s impossible!”

“But Ita-chan’s going to die soon~” Ino sang again.

“Again, stop with the weird nicknames!”

Ino sent him a devious smirk, one that made him think she hadn’t lost sanity completely. “But it’s so much fun to do so.”

Zabuza let out a feral scream.

* * *

In the distance, Hatake Kakashi turned towards the vibrations of something big. His squad turned too, staring into the distance.

“Should we check it out?” Horse asked.

“Probably just someone chopping wood,” Mouse shrugged. “Let’s get moving. I don’t like being in Chigiri for long.”

But then came the animal-like scream and the scream of terror-happiness.

“Yeah, I really don’t like Chigiri.” Mouse affirmed as they shot back towards Konoha.

Safe, safe Konoha where they didn’t hear the screams of the mentally insane as they were killed.

Yes, no one really liked Kirigakure.

 

**Day 28**

“Bye Zabu-sensei!” Ino exclaimed, hugging the man tightly. “I’ll miss you.”

“We’ll make sure to visit,” Kabuto stated dryly, talking to Haku while his master talked to Zabuza. “I will also hopefully have a harness ready by that time.”

“Where do you get a harness that keeps her in check?” Haku demanded, jerking a thumb towards the dubbed ‘Blonde Devil’.

“You have no idea,” Kabuto sighed. “I can only make one, and hopefully, it won’t wear out in a month’s time.”

Haku deadpanned, his arms falling by his sides limply. “Once you make it, send me the manual. I intend to make my own.”

“Of course, Haku-kun.” Kabuto promised.

They turned, in sync, to watch as Zabuza continued his conversation with Orochimaru, while trying to make his blonde student let go.

“She’s something,” Haku admitted. “What she is, I have no idea.”

They were silent until Orochimaru finally karate chopped Ino’s neck, sending her sprawling onto the ground.

“Harness manual.” Haku reminded.

“Right.”

And the two groups parted ways, Orochimaru dragging Ino by her foot away.

“Bye Haku-niichan!” Ino shouted as they disappeared into the forest. Zabuza and Haku stood in silence together for a while, rerunning their month with the Blonde Devil.

“Congrats Haku,” Zabuza congratulated blankly and clapped the 14 year old boy on the shoulder. “You’re a big brother now.”

“I don’t know if you’re patronizing me or actually congratulating me,” Haku deadpanned. “I hope it’s the first one.”

Zabuza smirked and looked back at the dirt trail.

“How long do you think they’ll drag her?”

“However long they want.”


	14. Eleventh

Yamanaka Ino smirked, staring up at the red building in front of her.  It was September 1st, the perfect time to return to school.

“Say hello to me again Forehead~” Ino sang, skipping away as the stars twinkled overhead.  “Say, how will I get on her nerves now?”

She didn’t notice the silver haired shadow trailing her.  Scratch that, she knew he was there, she just played it stupid.  Like she was supposed to.

Hatake Kakashi was worried about the blonde girl who wore her bright, pupiless eyes who laughed and sang like she wasn’t supposed to.  He was worried, for the first time, not emotionless, because that girl was.

As she turned a corner that led to the Yamanaka Compound, Kakashi shinshi to another place.  At the sight of inside the interior frightened him.

The Yamanaka compound was like a prison.  People didn’t stay out too long, and if they did, they did it with a slightly forced smile.  Children didn’t run in the streets, instead sticking close to each other and glaring at the occasional other shinobi who walked through.

And among it all, were flowers.  Plants. Kakashi swore he saw only plants.  The air was cleaner than the rest of the  _ world _ and plants just lined the streets.  Raised platforms, wooden bridges mostly, were what were used to walk.  No one harmed the flowers.

Many wore their hitai-ate proudly on their foreheads, or everywhere else.  Actually, it was rarely that they wore it on their forehead. Only the few with masks at their hips.   _ ANBU. _

Ino weaved through the crowds, balancing on the railings of the bridges with her arms wide out.  Kakashi stared at the clan. It was still very lively, considering it was nearly eleven at night.

Seeing enough, Kakashi disappeared.

Ino glanced over her shoulder, smirking.  He was an idiot. A pure, undiluted idiot.

* * *

“Heimin-chan~!” Ino sang as she appeared in class.  “I have a present for you~!” Sakura turned to glare at the smirking blonde, who didn’t even care.

“What do you want, Ino-buta?” Sakura bit out, flanked by Shiroichi Hanami and Mimi Asami.

“Oh, I’m just wondering what you’ve been doing recently,” Ino waved off handedly.  She had decided to go for the not really insane version of herself. Just the on Kabuto nicknamed the ‘Blonde Banshee’, whatever that meant.  “I mean, besides stalking Sasuke-kun?”

Sakura threw Ino an irritated look as she stormed towards school.  Ino smiled victoriously.

“Go away, Buta-chan,” Asami hissed venomously.  “No one wants you here.”

Ino shrugged, letting the insult fly over her head.  Haku and Kabuto called her worse, though she knew that they actually meant it.  This girl didn’t.

“Go away Annoying Yamanaka,” Hanami agreed, turning on her heel and storming after Sakura.  Ino once again shrugged and leapt over the fence that surrounded the Academy.

Only to fall on top of Kiba.

“Kiba-kun!” Ino exclaimed, quickly getting off the boy and looking all over him for injuries.  He was dazed, but people usually were when she jumped on them. Or tackled them.

“Kiba-chan?” Ino asked, poking the boy’s eye.  Akamaru ran around his master, trying to make him wake up.  He only groaned and rolled his head. “Hey!” Ino exclaimed. “I’m not that heavy, right Akamaru?”

The little dog yipped happily in response.

“What the?” Choji asked, looking at the scene as he and Shikamaru finally caught up.  “Kiba-kun? What happened?”

“Falling stars,” Kiba drawled dubiously.  “I see stars.”

Shikamaru and Choji turned simultaneously to give Ino a flat stare.

“What?”

Shikamaru just shook his head and hoisted Kiba over his shoulder.  “Me and Choji will take him to the nurse,” he sighed. “How troublesome.”

“Hey!  I’m not that bad!” Ino shouted as they disappeared into the school building.  “I just accidently fell on top of him!”

“Sure.” Shikamaru agreed, Choji taking the other half of Kiba’s weight.

_ ‘You really sure about that~?’ _

Ino began to giggle.  They really like doing that, don’t they?

* * *

Ino smiled at the rain as it pelted the windows.  She was sitting in her common area, on the tatami mats, smiling in the dark.

Konoha was due for some dark and cloudy weather, including rain.

_ ‘You okay, Ino-chan?’ _ her mother asked, her mouth not moving.  Ino frowned.

“Shut up,” she ordered.  “I don’t want to see you.”

_ ‘I’m not going away, Ino-chan,’ _ her mother sighed, kneeling in front of the blonde and brushing a hand over the blonde’s cheek.

Ino’s fist went through her mother’s head and it dissipated.

“Shut up.” she begged and tears stung her eyes.  “I’m not insane. I’m not  _ going  _ insane!”  She cried on the tatami mats, crumpling into a tight ball as she sobbed.  “I’m not!”

* * *

“Oro-chan, I think I’m actually going to go insane soon,” Ino announced, hugging her knees close.  They were in the Land of Earth’s base, and Ino was sitting while the two others ate dinner. She wasn’t hungry.  “I’m seeing Kaa-san. Like when she was healthy. She’s talking to me.”

Kabuto’s head shot up and he began to to choke, coughing on the small piece of chicken he had stuffed into his mouth.  Orochimaru turned to look at his student out of the corner of his eye.

“To be fair,” Kabuto started, holding a fist to his chest.  “I thought you were crazy to begin with.”

Ino shook her head.  “I’m see Kaa-san. She’s supposed to be in the ground.”

Orochimaru bit his lip.  It was happening.

Every Yamanaka had a fragile mind, and every one of them had some kind of mental disorder.  Ino’s father had some sort of detachment disorder, being able to detach himself from any situation and making him feel nothing.

Ino told them that Aozora had insecurity at such a level it was deadly.  He nearly died of starvation once so they also added Depression to the list.

“Should I get the right medicine?” Ino asked.

Orochimaru and Kabuto shared another look.  “I’ll go hunting,” Orochimaru sighed. “But that might be a good idea.  Don’t lie on that mental test when you reach 12.”

Ino smiled into her knees, finally ignoring the small girl sitting in the chair across from her with black eyes and black hair to match.

* * *

“Ino-chan, is it possible that Heiwa isn’t an Uchiha?” Kiko asked, looking at her niece.  “He’s looking more and more like Sasuke when he was his age.”

Ino continued reading her book, and responded without missing a beat.  She was expecting this.

“I dunno,” Ino sighed.  “I only helped his Kaa-san have him.  I didn’t ask what clan he belonged to.”

“So it’s a possibility?” Kiko prodded.

“Doubtful,” Ino stated.  “I found her in the slums.  Not the Uchiha compound.”

Kiko sent her niece a calculating look, but let the matter go.  She could get her son tested soon enough.

* * *

“X = 7,” Ino responded, flipping through the math textbook boredly.  She had already done all of this, considering Kabuto wanted her to keep up with her class.  Sadly, that meant she went ahead of them too. “The next question is 132.”

“Good Ino-chan!” Iruka praised.  “Naruto-kun, what is the answer to number nine?”

Naruto froze, clearly terrified about being put on the spot.  Ino placed her hand under the table, and gestured.

_ 55 _ , she signed.

“Fifty-five!” Naruto exclaimed excitedly.  “Right?”

Iruka smiled.  “You’re right, Naruto-kun.”

Ino sighed and glared at the black board.  She was trying to ignore the boy who was whispering in her ear, whispering for her to come and play with them.  As much as she wanted to, she resisted from punching him.

People couldn’t see him.

* * *

“Yamanaka-san.” Sasuke greeted tightly, glaring at the blonde girl who was sitting on his training post.

She didn’t respond, ignoring the voice that she thought was fake.  That was until she was knocked off the post, dazed and staring up at the sky.

“Yamanaka-san.” Sasuke greeted again, appearing over top of Ino’s head.  “Why were you ignoring me?”

Ino just shook her head, and smiled at him brightly.

“Oh, Sasuke-kun!” she exclaimed happily.  “Sorry, I didn’t hear you!”

Sasuke stared at her for a moment then walked away.  He did not want another one, no matter what.

“Geez, you’re strong,” Ino whined, not following him.  “If you’re going to train, you might want to do it right now.”

Sasuke turned to look at her.

“All those girls that follow you don’t really like coming here,” Ino explained, sitting up cross legged.  “The closest entrance is a river that has a bridge a distance away. I wouldn’t put it past them to get lost, with how much makeup they wear.”

Sasuke stared at the blonde who hadn’t shown up for a month.

“And you won’t bother me?” he asked.

“Only if I really need to,” Ino confirmed.  “And if you don’t want me to, I won’t call you Sasuke-kun.  Only around Forehead-chan.”

He had watched her for the past while.  Yamanaka Ino had these annoying quirks that annoyed him to no end, several that made her eyes glint brightly, even when they were blank and lifeless.

“You going to, Uchiha-san?” Ino asked, looking at the boy expectantly.  She had moved to the shade of a tree, and for some reason, there was a fist imprint in it.

Sasuke walked up to the post, and began to punch it.  His knuckles almost split, until Ino pulled out her taping and wrapping his knuckles and hands.

“That way I won’t have to heal you when you’re done,” she muttered, and gave him the tape.  “Use that when you’re punch training.”

She returned to the shade, reading her book that Sasuke didn’t bother looking at.

They spent the rest of the day in silence, although, Ino occasionally threw a kunai at nothing, nearly hitting Sasuke one time.  Either way, the tree she was just sitting under was riddled with marks when they both finished.

“What are you going to do when you become a genin?” Ino asked as she gathered all her weapons.

Sasuke didn’t have an answer to that.

* * *

Ino celebrated her 11th birthday alone.  She bought a cupcake but that was all. She didn’t mind.  She just didn’t want to deal with anyone.

She swiped her arm around, dispersing the little black haired girl again.

_ ‘We’re not real,’ _ the blue haired man giggled.   _ ‘We’re figments of your imagination, if you know what we mean.’ _

“Shut up.” Ino ordered, throwing a kunai at him.  Her house was a mess, the walls having kunai and shuriken holes imbedded through it.  There were even a few that were still there.

Her father was never home either way.  She lived alone. Practically.

“Go away,” she once again ordered, flinging a kunai straight at her mother’s head.  “I’m not in the mood. I’m really not in the mood, Kaa-san.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I really tried. I researched how to make a character seemingly go insane. And this was the best I could do.
> 
> I really thought that Ino would get some kind of mental illness, and in this case, I chose Schizophrenia. I wasn't sure how to write it either. I did my best. Please don't hate me!
> 
> *Heimin = commoner. I thought that because Sakura's in a class full of clan kids, one of the only civilians, I thought she would like the insult.


	15. Seven Months

**October**

Ino burst into Naruto’s apartment with a giant cake cleaning supplies and Kiba in tow.

“Happy birthday, Naruto-kun!” she crowed, placing the cake on the low table and flitting around the small house.  She immediately began to clean his apartment, making Kiba just stare at her sleepily.

“You do realize that it’s three in the morning!” he exclaimed, finally semi-awake.

Ino pouted and threw a butter knife she kept for dispersing her ghosts, at him.  “You just don’t like waking up early.”

“Waking up-It’s freaking three in the morning!” Kiba shouted.  No doubt he was waking up Naruto, but he couldn’t find it in his heart to care.  This idiot blonde had woken him up and had decided to throw Naruto a birthday party.

“It’s three-fifty-six!” Ino argued.  “Five to four!”

“Still too early!” Kiba shouted.

“Wha-?” Naruto mumbled, flicking the light on and walking into the kitchen.  “Ino-chan? Kiba-kun? What are you doing here at four in the morning?”

Kiba gave him a flat stare.  “Happy birthday. I’m sleeping now.  Ino, do whatever, but I’m going back home.”

He left with the slam of the door.  Ino smiled darkly, her purple crop top jingling in the wind.  She would just remove the memory of the past two hours from his mind again.

“Go to sleep, Naruto-kun~!” Ino sang, hitting pressure points on his neck to knock him out.  Then, she slammed her fingers into the ones that would make him forget the last hour. She then cheerfully pulled him back to bed, threw him under the covers and smiled brightly.

“Happy birthday~” she sang, going back to the kitchen and beginning to flit around it, making it sparkling.

 

**November**

Ino stood in front of her mother’s grave, completely alone in the frozen graveyard at midnight of November 10th.

The morning was frosty, and Ino was dressed in a black down jacket, black gloves and a purple beanie covering her ears.  Her leggings went down into her brown boots, and one arm was propped up on her bent up knee.

“Kaa-san,” she sighed sadly.  “Hello. How’s heaven?”

No shinobi were around her, all asleep, except her.  She had been hiding in a tree for the entire day, just waiting to be able talk to her mother with no people around.

“I’m good.  Oro-chan’s going to happy with my progress, but I think that Heiwa-kun will be so be happy.”  Her head lowered to the ground. “Hey Kaa-san. You were in the business of intel gathering during the Third war, so did you ever betray your village sometimes?  I bet you did.” She chuckled.

“Tou-san isn’t ever home anymore, and I’m being kept inside.  I can’t ever visit you,” she giggled. “Of course, I could, but if I do, they’d just assume I’m here when I visit Oro-chan.  Isn’t that pathetic?”

She took a deep breath.  “I wish Sakura-chan was still around.  You know, before she stopped being friends with me, I was planning to take her to meet you.  It was supposed to be a surprise. But then, she shoved me off the edge. Did you ever have someone like that, Kaa-san?”

She swallowed, wiping the tears away from her face.  “How much am I going to have to take, Kaa-san? How much more am I going to survive before I can die?  I have so many people to avenge though, so I’m wondering when I can.”

Tears began to stream down her face, rolling down her perfect, porcelain skin.  She clutched the area above her heart and fell to the ground.

“It hurts so much, Kaa-san!” she sobbed, grabbing her coat tightly.  “It hurts that I couldn’t do anything for you, when I could have. Please, Kaa-san.  I can’t stand the voices. They’re tearing me apart inside! Kiko-oba-chan knows, but she doesn’t believe me.”

She looked at the gravestone.  “Kaa-san, I can’t stand hearing your voice, so happy and full of life anymore.  Please, stop it!”

The alarm on her watch beeped and Ino began to hiccup.  Pulling her sleeve up and her glove down, she stared at the numbers.

One a.m.  November 11.

“Happy birthday, Kaa-san.” Ino hiccupped.  “Happy birthday.”

 

**December**

Konoha didn’t really get that much snow that year, only ten centimeters.  Usually they got more, but Ino couldn’t find it in her heart to care. She walked in a light sweater and beanie, fingerless gloves to keep the cold away from her fingers.

Around her, younger Yamanaka children played in the snow, laughing as they threw snowballs into each other’s faces.  Of course, they were happy, but they also knew what lied beyond their compound.

People weren’t allowed into the Yamanaka compound unless they had top clearance from the Hokage.  It wasn’t rare, but there was also the routine inspection for drug deals. All Yamanaka's knew this, but they accepted it as a part of life.

Most of them were in ANBU, or else, they would reach what the rest of the village would consider jounin status.  Then, they’d retire and live their lives as ‘civilians’. Ino, because she was the future head of the family, was forced to go to both the Academy, like her father before her, and the Yamanaka clan academy.  She only learned things relevant to her clan, but still, she was above most in her grade.

The walls surrounding them were designed to trap them inside, just incase one of them went insane and they had to kill them.  Sure, that didn’t happen a lot, anymore, but it still happened occasionally. The houses were built like prison cells, but the Yamanaka compound always buzzed with life.  During the night, because they were so secluded, they could have most of the lights going, talking lowly.

Ino smiled as a snowball flew past her head, making her hair whip around.  She waved to the children, who laughed and waved back.

“Ino-sama,” her aunt, Yamanaka Hiroki, greeted, her daughter, Mai, by her side.

“Hiroki-oji-san.” Ino returned.  “Mai-chan.”

“Hello Ino-sama.” Mai greeted, smiling at the young girl in greeting.  “How are you?”

“Fine, yourself?”

Mai laughed and reached towards the snow.  “We just finished my mental health screening,” she smiled.  “Oji-sama said I might have ADHD and probably anxiety. That wonderful news.”

Ino’s eyes widened.  “You mean…”

“Yeah, I graduated,” Mai confirmed.  Her mother smiled and waved, leaving the two girls to talk.  “Kaa-san’s happy, and so is Tou-san, but Yuriko-chan is angry.”

“Yuriko-chan is always angry.” Ino deadpanned, and Mai chuckled.

“I suppose you’re right.” she agreed.  “Speak of the devil.”

Mai’s younger sister, Yuriko grumbled along the trail.  They both had big, dark blue eyes, strawberry blonde hair that went down to their mid backs.  The only way to tell them apart was that Yuriko had a beauty mark right under her lip and darker hair.

“Yuriko-chan!” Mai called, waving over at her twin.  “Ino-sama wants to talk to you!”

Ino laughed as Yuriko threw her nose into the air and stormed away from the pair.

“Anger issues?” Ino asked, chuckling.

“Yeah.  Lucky me.” Mai deflated.  “And it’s going to get worse unless we find some kind of release.”

“Good luck.”

“Thanks.” Mai said dryly.

 

**January**

Ino whipped around, laughing as Yoroi tried to hit her with his sucking jutsu.  She cackled again when he aimed for her legs, only to be pushed back.

“Oro-chan!” she giggled as she kicked him in the head.  “Is this the new toy you said I could play with? He’s not even trying!”

“Go easy on him Ino-chan,” Orochimaru sighed, head in his palm.  “This is his first time fighting you.”

“Can’t I play with you?” Ino whined as she slammed her heel into the guy’s back.  “You, I haven’t, at least, hit yet.”

“When you’re ready, you can fight him,” Kabuto sighed, reading a clipboard.  “You still have to perfect control of your Heaven Seal-”

“Done!”

Kabuto jumped and dropped his clipboard.  He rushed to the railing. Yoroi was down for the count, and Ino was grinning widely.

“Kabu-nii, I can show you!” she closed her eyes and began to release the mark from it’s confinement.

Her skin darkened to an granite colour, her hands were pure white, splatters of white making it’s way up to her biceps, where it disappeared into the granite.  Her hair whitened, turning smoother and one, blood red strand going straight down the middle of her head. She quickly tore off her shirt, bandages loosely covering her chest, just as six, snow white wings snapped out of her back, each speckled with crimson, like blood had spilled onto them.  Her nails were sharpened to claws, and when her eyes snapped open, the sclera was an ice blue, her iris snake yellow and her pupil pure white. Her ears were pointed like elf ears, going to the top of her head.

“See Kabu-nii!” Ino cheered, launching up into the air.  She slammed into the railing, making it bend under her new weight.  “I can use it!”

Orochimaru stood up, his eyes wide at the girl in front of him.  She was gorgeous, but dangerous. Her eyes snapped to his moving form, and he leapt over the railing.

“Come, Ino-chan,” he murmured, still in shock that the eleven year old could accomplish such a task.  “Let’s battle.”

 

**February**

Ino stared at the blackboard, taking notes as Iruka lectured them, explaining the basic natures and what each did.  He went on to say different clans had different kekki genkai, to which he asked for examples.

“The Nara clan, Shadow control.” Shikamaru drawled sleepily.

“The Akimichi clan uses expansion jutsu,” Choji put his two cents in.

“People from the Aburame clan can control bugs,” Shino added.  “It’s a secret art.”

Ino rolled her eyes.  She could name half the kekkei genkai in the world since she was nine, and spent a year just waltzing around with Orochimaru.

“Ino-chan,” Iruka called and her cat-like eyes snapped to him from the window.  “You traveled the world for a while. Can you tell us some other kekkei genkai?”

Ino thought for a moment.  “All I know is that the Chairono are completely immune to all poisons and can manipulate plants.  Based in Kumogakure, but I otherwise, nope.”

“And how do you know that?” Iruka prodded.

“Uncle is a Chairono,” Ino explained.  It was only the half truth, but it was better than none.  “That’s all I know, because I’m not an actual Chairono.”

‘Liar, liar, pants on fire!’ the black haired girl taunted.  Ino ignored her in favour of looking out the window.

“What about the other villages?” Iruka pushed.

“Dunno,” Ino shrugged.  “I didn’t pass through too many villages, and if we did, we didn’t stay long.”

Realizing that she wouldn’t elaborate, Iruka moved onto a new target.  Sakura, who named every damn kekki genkai in the village and their basic abilities.

Ino scoffed under her breath as Sakura started on the Yamanaka abilities.

“They can invade minds.” she announced.  “That’s all it said in the book.”

“Of course,” Ino murmured.  “Everything is down in the safe where only a Yamanaka can get in.  Only the basic things available to everyone outside the clan.”

Everyone turned to where Ino sat, looking at her expectantly.  “What?” she snapped.

“What else can the Yamanaka kekkai genkai do?” Iruka prompted.

Ino’s eyes narrowed at him, she turned to look out the window again.  “Heck if I know.”

 

**March**

“I did it!” Ino exclaimed excitedly, staring at the identical clone in front of her.  “Oh my god, I did it!”

Kabuto looked up from his work, looking at her boredly.  “Ino-chan, what did you do?”

Ino squealed and then slammed her hands together, like she was going to pray to some deity.  Her hands went to the Mi sign, ox and then the classic shadow clone sign.

The clone crumpled to the ground, her eyes rolled back into her head.  Immediately, it started to accelerate rotting, making Ino’s eyes light up.  Kabuto’s eyes were wide, just staring at the horrible sight.

“What the hell!?” he shrieked as Ino kicked the pile of bones, that were already turning to dust.

Ino squealed again, twirling around and around happily.  “Oh my god! Oh my god! I did it! I did it!”

Kabuto was breathing hard, his back up against the wall farthest away from her.  He had toppled his chair to the floor as soon as the clone had collapsed. His clipboard was on the ground near his chair, but he could only breath in terror of what Ino had created.

He slid to the ground as Ino continued to twirl, her eyes glazed and not completely there.  Shakily, Kabuto brought his arms up around himself, wrapping himself as to hide from the girl.

Her long, blonde hair would dance as she twirled, her eyes looked happy, but she wasn’t all there.  Her eyes were glazed. Part of her was missing.

Kabuto swallowed.  He knew what the drawbacks of this jutsu was.

It stole part of your soul to create the clone.

 

**April**

“I can’t wait to graduate!” Kiba gushed as he, Choji and Shikamaru walked towards the Academy.  That day was the final test, and then they would all go their respective ways.

“I know!” Choji agreed, munching on chips.  “What about you Shikamaru?”

Shikamaru yawned.  “Troublesome.”

When they got there, Ino was sitting behind Sasuke, staring out the window with her head in her palm.  She had those large, new things that played music. Headphones, they were called.

There was a limited amount of songs that could be played on them, but Ino didn’t seem to care.  She just kept them over her ears, waiting for someone to show up to tell her to stop.

The three boys moved so they weren’t near her, looking over occasionally in concern.  She used to be such good friends with them, her bubbly personality making it seem like she was always happy.  Of course, they knew that it was true, most of the time.

She sighed and quickly placed the headphones away into her bag that sat beside her, making Ino wonder just when she could start.  It wouldn’t matter too much, in her opinion.

* * *

Ino finished her test with several wrong answers, she knew it.  She just rushed through it, playing bored, not checking over her work.  All in all, being a horrible test taker.

“We will now start the final exam,” Iruka announced to the class.  “When your name is called, proceed to the testing room. The final test will be on… the clone jutsu.”

“Nailed it~” she sang softly.  Sasuke turned to look at her confused, but when she gave him a bright smile, he turned back to the board.  Ino smirked. ‘I see he’s still unsure about what I’m doing.’

Ino was the last to perform the jutsu, nailing it with top marks.  Exactly three, perfect copies of her were created making her smile when she got her headband.

“Oh, so you did get it?” Sakura taunted and Ino smirked.

“Of course, Forehead-chan.  I don’t tend to disappoint.”  Ino had the haughty look on her face like she knew something Sakura didn’t.  “You on the other hand, well, it’s questionable.”

Ino turned on her heel as Sakura was about to shoot another insult at her.  “Later Forehead-chan,” Ino waved. “See you tomorrow, if you can even get up in the morning.”

Little did Sakura know that Ino was being dragged further and further down with each insult that they threw at each other.


	16. Genin

“Ino-nee!” Heiwa said, walking into the guest room where his older cousin was sleeping. “Breakfast time!”

“Coming, Hei-chan,” Ino muttered into her pillow. “Five more minutes.”

“Kaa-san said your bacon will get cold,” Heiwa replied, bouncing on Ino’s body.

“Hmm.” Ino hummed. She rolled over, trapping her four year old cousin under her. “Got you, Hei-chan.”

“Ino-nee!” Heiwa shouted, trying to escape. “Kaa-san! I’m trapped!”

Ino snuggled closer to her cousin, or little brother. People weren’t sure. “Shh, Hei-chan. We’ll be fine. You’ve seen how fast I can eat.”

Heiwa giggled, just as Kiko walked into the room. “Ino-chan! You have ten minutes to get to the academy!”

Ino groaned, but pulled herself from her bed. She slipped her purple skirt and crop top that belonged to her mother when she was a genin, her blonde hair still up in it’s personal ponytail.

“Kiko-oba-chan,” Ino called, sitting at the table. She stabbed her eggs, sighing as she slipped her bacon into her mouth. “Why do I have to get up? I’m just going to be with Shikamaru and Choji.”

Kiko gave her niece a flat stare. “Ino-chan, you might as well as just go. Just be yourself and you’ll be fine.”

“Ha, ha,” Ino mocked. “Well, I’m going now. See ya.”

“Bye Ino-nee!” Heiwa shouted, waving from the living room.

“Bye Hei-chan!” Ino waved, pulling on her sandals on her feet. She rushed down the stairs, nearly ten minutes late for the beginning of the orientation. Of course, it didn’t matter.

* * *

“So, which team am I on?” Ino asked, sitting at the base of a tree, next to Shikamaru. “I’m assuming it’s with you guys.”

Shikamaru sighed. “Yeah. It’s troublesome.”

“And here I thought that you would actually enjoy my company,” Ino sniffed, putting her nose up in the air. “I mean, c’mon. I’m not like Forehead-chan, am I?”

Shikamaru sent her a look. “No. You’re worse.”

“Shika-chan!” Ino whined, tears welling up in her eyes. “What do you mean by that?”

“Just stop it already!” Shikamaru exclaimed, backing away from her. “I’m sorry!” Ino wrapped him in a tight hug, smiling brightly.

“Aw! Thanks, Shikamaru!” she exclaimed.

“Troublesome.” Shikamaru sighed, but didn’t shove her off.

* * *

“Team Ten,” A man, announced, walking into the classroom after the hour break. “Akimichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino.”

Ino looked away from her nail preening, turning to look at the scruffy man. He had wild black hair held back by his headband, a beard that went from his hair down to his chin and was dressed in the jounin attire.

With a shrug, she stood up and skipped down the stairs. With a sigh, Shikamaru followed her, Choji after.

He led them out of the building to a secluded bench in the middle of nowhere. He pulled out a cigarette, lit it and took a drag. He blew the smoke over the three’s head, making them cough.

_‘Too much time spent underground, and still not used to smoke!’_ Ino thought as the hacked the smoke out of her lungs.

“Oh! Sorry my bad!” the man apologized. “I’m Sarutobi Asuma, in charge of Team Ten starting today. I’ll be strict on you guys so be prepared.”

Choji, Shikamaru and Ino looked up, their eyes forcing the intrusion of smoke out.

“Don’t suddenly start crying!” Asuma exclaimed. “All I said was I’m going to be strict on you guys!”

“The smoke is getting into our eyes!” Shikamaru shouted, pointing accusatory at Asuma.

Ino coughed once more, wiped the tears from her eyes and glared at the man. “Well, fine introduction you gave us! Now we have to deal with breaking your habit too!”

Asuma stared at the blonde girl in shock as she glared at him angrily. Then, he smiled.

_‘I’m going to like this team.’_ he thought happily as Shikamaru and Choji whipped around to glare at her.

* * *

The bell test was easy for them, but Asuma cornered each of them anyways. Of course, it wasn’t surprising, considering who their parents were, but Asuma was sure Ino wasn’t supposed to be this fast.

She was twisting every which way, drawing him out towards where he knew a trap was hidden. Of course, it didn’t help that they had created it while he was chasing the girl, trying to dodge her own traps.

He stepped on another one and body began to sink into the ground. Ino leapt down and kneeled in front of him.

“Congrats, Sensei~” she sang, her blue eyes lit up in excitement. “You just got trapped!”

* * *

“You sure we shouldn’t try and stop her?” Choji asked, looking at the girl worriedly. “I mean, I don’t want to traumatize our teacher.”

“Ino, just grab the bells already!” Shikamaru shouted, his voice annoyed. “Man. This is so annoying.”

“Well, maybe if you actually got sense of what I can play with, then it would be easier,” Ino pouted, tossing them each a bell. “I’ll just go back to the Academy. I don’t exactly want to be a ninja right now. Plus, I’ll be smarter that way.”

“No way Ino!” Choji shouted, shoving a bell into her hands. “I’ll go back! You’re way better than me, plus, I can have all the barbeque I want!”

_‘What?’_ Ino thought, deflating. _‘That’s what you want out of life?’_

“What a drag,” Shikamaru muttered, tossing Choji his bell. “I’ll go back. Sure, Kaa-san will yell at me for failing, but I get another year’s worth of naps there.”

Ino pouted. “But you two totally deserve it! I barely scored up there thanks to Kyo-sensei!”

Asuma raised his head from the ground where he flopped down, staring at the bickering teammates, almost acting like siblings. _‘To be fair, they all pass.’_ he thought, his head heavy. Just what was that genjutsu!?

“Congrats,” he said, forcing himself up. “You guys pass.”

They didn’t hear him, Ino arguing loudly why she should go back to the academy. Asuma sighed. She was going to be the loudmouth one, huh?

He dragged himself to his feet, sighing as he felt his lit cigarette gone.

“Oi!” he shouted, catching the three’s attention.

“What?” they all snapped, clearly annoyed that he interrupted them.

Asuma let out a strained laugh. “You guys, you all pass. The goal is teamwork, which you did splendidly.”

The three blinked and Ino smiled brightly. “You hear that guys! None of us get to go back to the Academy!”

Shikamaru frowned and Choji just opened another bag of chips.

“C’mon!” Ino pouted. “At least _act_ happy!”

Asuma’s eyes narrowed at the blonde. She was the one who trapped him in the genjutsu. That was at least a B-rank, if not higher.

He frowned and pulled another cigarette out of his pack. Lighting it, he took a long drag and blew the smoke from his lungs.

“Hey, sensei, are we dismissed?” Ino asked, looking at him with an expectant look. “I need to do my chores and shift at the flower shop.”

Asuma nodded, taking another drag of his cigarette, but studied her closely. Who was Kyo-sensei?

Ino waved to her two teammates excitedly then skipped away, off to meet up with her aunt and cousin. Her blonde hair flapped in the wind and Asuma’s eyes narrowed. Hopefully, she just learned that genjutsu from her father, or another clan member.

But it was in the way she held herself that worried him the most. She was headstrong, positive she could do anything alone or succeed in doing whatever she had planned. Not to mention, the way her hair was taken care of.

Asuma let the smoke pass through his lips again. He might have to get Kakashi to follow her for a bit to just get the proper analysis.

* * *

The bell above the door jingled as Ino pushed it open. “Hello Kiko-oba-chan! Hei-chan!”

Her brown haired aunt looked over from the potted plants behind the counter, and Heiwa looked up from his colouring at the counter, on a high stool.

“Ino-nee!” he cheered. “You won’t skip your shift again!”

Ino pouted as she walked to the hooks that held the aprons. “That was one time!”

“Then what about yesterday?” Kiko teased and Ino sneered at her, wrapping the apron ties around her waist.

“I had a meet up with Aozora-kun!”

Kiko laughed and Heiwa giggled. His older cousin was funny, no matter what she did. Ino’s eyes glinted mischievously as she peeked over Heiwa’s shoulder to see what he was colouring.

“Hey!” he shouted, and covered it with his arms. “No peeking!”

Ino smirked and began to tug on his arms. “Aw, just a little peek, Hei-chan. You know it won’t hurt.”

“But you always tease me!” he argued as Ino began to tickle him. He began to giggle and swatting at her hands. “Ino-nee! St-stop it!”

The bell jingled and the three family members looked over at the door. Hatake Kakashi was standing there, just looking awkward, like he did whenever he stepping in on the family. Behind him stood Sakura and Sasuke, who were both staring at Ino and Heiwa wide eyed. At least Sasuke managed to disguise his shock, while Sakura was still staring, mouth wide open.

Ino waved at them all cheerfully. “Hey guys! How’s it going?”

Kakashi coughed into his fist and entered the store. “We’re just waiting for Naruto to get out of his ropes.”

Ino looked at him in confusion. “Ropes, Kaka-oji? What were you guys doing that involved _ropes_?”

“Oji?” Sakura shrieked

Kakashi grit his teeth. “Ino, I told you to stop calling me that.”

“But you pop in so often, I’m wondering when you’ll just move in!” Ino exclaimed. “Hei-chan filled me in on all the juicy details about the last time you were here.”

Kiko stiffened and whipped around to glare at her niece. “I-Ino!” she exclaimed in horror.

“Aw, c’mon,” Ino said as Heiwa launched himself onto her back. She hooked her arms under his legs as he wrapped his arms around her neck. “We all know that it’s true. You two are so-”

Kiko slapped a hand over her niece’s mouth and tore Heiwa off the girl’s body. Heiwa laughed at Ino’s confused expression. His mother’s face was flushed and her ears were tinged in red.

“Don’t mind her!” she exclaimed cheerfully. “She just says stuff! She has no filter!”

Sasuke took a step back from his teacher. He was not very interested in his teacher’s love life, but really, he did not want to have that image in his head.

“Gah! You’re so vulgar, Kiko-oba-chan! I was just going to say you love staring at the nighttime sky together! You’re constellation buddies!”

Kiko seemed to deflate a little bit, but Ino didn’t seem to mind. “So, what can I get for you guys?” she asked the trio cheerfully.

“Ugh!” Sakura sniffed. “I don’t think I even want to be in here anymore! C’mon Sasuke-kun! Let’s go to my place!”

Ino shrugged. “You know Kiko-oba-chan said no silly rivalry in her flower shop, Forehead-chan! That means, if Sasuke-kun wants to stay and not go to that horrible place, then he can!”

Sasuke seemed to tense as Sakura turned to him. “Pretty please, Sasuke-kun?” she fluttered her eyelashes.

“Really, Forehead-chan?” Ino asked as Kakashi and Kiko began to talk. “You think he’ll fall for that? Anyways, you getting your usual, Sasuke-kun?”

Sasuke looked at her and nodded.

“The day after tomorrow, right?” Ino asked, and he nodded again. “‘Kay. We’ll have it ready by the time you come in. Nine, okay?”

Sasuke nodded and fled the shop, making Ino smile and rest her head in her hands. Sakura shot out after their crush, but not before throwing an irritated, and quite scathing look Ino’s way. Ino just smirked, her eyes betraying the I-know-something-you-don’t expression.

The bell jingled merrily and Kakashi and Kiko were brought from their discussion.

“Where are my genin?” Kakashi asked, looking very bewildered about where they could have run off to.

Ino waved it off. “Sasuke-kun ran out after confirming a yearly order and Forehead-chan ran after him. It’s nothing worth noting, besides the fact that I still need to ask if you want the same in…” Ino calculated the days on her fingers. “A week?”

Kakashi smiled at her and Ino took that as a yes. “Sure, just don’t answer.” she muttered under her breath and made a note. “I forgot to ask if Sasuke-kun wanted help in two days. I’ll ask him later.”

Kiko smiled down at her niece and Ino lifted Heiwa up from the ground and set him on the counter. He immediately went back to his colouring, covering it up with his body.

“Aw, c’mon Hei-chan!” Ino pouted, pulling her notebook out of her apron pocket and quickly filling out some information. “Just a little peek?”

“No!” Heiwa stated and Ino deflated.

“Fine,” she agreed and went to start her chores at the shop. “But that means I don’t take you grocery shopping later~”

Heiwa really looked conflicted, but he managed to restrain himself. “No means no, Ino-nee!”

Kakashi nearly laughed at the cousins, but managed to restrain himself.

“Are they always like this?” he asked as Ino began to water the potted plants. “Ino-san and Heiwa-kun, I mean.”

Kiko smiled fondly. “Yes, they are.” she murmured fondly.

Together, they stood there for more than half an hour, just watching the two bicker, just like real siblings.

“Ino-nee!” Heiwa shrieked as Ino began to pour water over his head from the watering can in her hand. He had followed her diligently, like a little puppy, and Ino had teased him. Then, she poured the water over him and sat on the ground cross legged.

“Please let this little seed grow up big and strong,” Ino recited, her body positioned as if she was in prayer. She was sitting cross legged on the floor in front of the little boy, smirking as she prayed. “Let him be ever envied-”

“You’re getting wet too, Ino-nee!” Heiwa claimed as he tackled her to the concrete ground. Ino just laughed as he laughed and petted his hair affectionately.

Really, this is what the customers came to see. The affection between family members, so tender, yet so powerful, that could melt hearts.

It honestly warmed Kiko’s heart. Even if it meant that she had to take care of the next customer that had just walked through the door. But honestly? The little display on the floor was worth it.


	17. Missions

Nara Shikamaru yawned as they walked towards their second D-rank mission of the day, completely dead on his feet.

_‘I need a nap.’_ he thought as he followed Asuma-sensei towards the location they were supposed to go.

“Isn’t this boring for you, Sensei?” Ino asked from behind him and Choji.  “Going on these missions that are below your ability?”

Asuma turned to look at her oddly, but Shikamaru had to admit, that was a strange question.  Their teacher just shrugged. “I’m a Jounin teacher,” he admitted. “It’s in the job description.”

Shikamaru could almost _hear_ the face Ino was pulling.  “But that doesn’t mean anything.” she muttered under her breath, and Shikamaru barely heard it.  He almost laughed too.

They filed into the building, and Ino nearly laughed out loud.  Shikamaru heard her sharp intake of breath and the short giggle that she let loose.

In front of them was Yamanaka Inoichi who was talking with a young, green haired and amber eyed woman.  She was smirking and her forehead protector was holding her hair back like a headband.

Asuma walked up to the other secretary, a man with brown hair and matching eyes who was reading through several files.  His face and neck was covered in scars, making Shikamaru wonder what he did to get them.

“Hello,” Asuma greeted.  “We’re here to pick up the files for Hokage-sama from the Torture and Interrogation unit.”

The man smiled at them, his scars wrinkling.  “Yeah, Ibiki-san said that Hokage-sama would send someone.  Just a moment.”

Ino was trying hard not to laugh at her father and woman, her father talking to her with a serious expression.

“Yeah, I know,” he nodded.  “But where are they? Anko promised to turn them in within a week.  It’s been fifteen days!”

The woman leaned forwards, fluttering her eyelashes.  “Oh, but she hasn’t come here recently, Yamanaka-san.”

Inoichi looked away from the woman and glared at the wall away from Squad 10.  “That bitch!” he swore.

Ino clucked her tongue loudly, and the two looked over, both glaring at her.  Shikamaru nearly smirked when Inoichi’s gaze changed to surprise at Ino appearance.

“Aw, Tou-san, there’s minors here!” Ino exclaimed, looking over at him disapprovingly.  “You shouldn’t swear!”

Inoichi just rolled his eyes and stalked out of the welcome area.  “I’ll just go and find Anko myself, Asami-san. Good day.”

The green haired woman deflated and returned to her filing job, sulking.

“Here, Ino.” Asuma said, giving the girl a large parcel that also had to be delivered to the Hokage.  “You can carry this. It’s the lightest thing.”

The two other boys were given three stuffed folders, and Ino was happy with what Asuma thrusted into her arms.  Shikamaru sent their teacher a glare, but he just shrugged and tucked the smallest folder into his vest.

“Well?” Asuma asked.  “Let’s get moving.”

* * *

The Hokage was perplexed when the quartet burst into his room, a parcel that seemed to be full of something heavy in the girl’s arms, three folders in each of the boy's arms and his son’s hands stuffed deeply into his pockets, not a file in sight.

Ino marched up to him and dropped the parcel onto the desk, drowning his other paperwork out.  “Here.” she told him, smirking evilly. She walked back to her team, and the two boys walked closer.  The gave Iruka their files, to which he added to the ever growing pile behind him. Asuma just handed the one, thin, manila folder to his father with a sigh.

Ino stood there with her hands on her hip and smirked at them.  So boring.

“Your pay,” the Hokage said and the chunin handed the four their little envelope for the week.  Ino shoved hers into her back pouch and stalked out, throwing a ‘I have a shift today’ over her shoulder.

Asuma, Choji and Shikamaru let her leave.  They were done for the day anyways.

* * *

Ino was sitting upside down on a bench as Heiwa played at the park with two other civilian children, reading a book.

“Look!” Sakura exclaimed, walking up to the platinum blonde.  “If it isn’t Ino-buta-chan!”

Ino rolled her eyes and snapped her book shut.  “Really, Forehead?” she sneered. “I’m babysitting several children, so you better have a good reason for showing up.”

One of them, a young girl named Yukiko ran up to the two girls, her face glowing in pride.  “Ino-’an! Ino-’an!” she shouted. “Look what I ju’t caught!”

Ino looked down at her, her eyes widening at the sight of a butterfly with a broken wing.

“Where did you find it?” Ino asked the little black haired girl.

“Over there, Ino-’an!” she exclaimed, pointing over at a area of fenced off flowers.

Ino sighed and put a hand on the girl’s shoulder.  “You know you’re not supposed to go over there, Yuki-chan.”

The little girl looked down.  “I know, but it wa’ hurt! You have to help it, Ino-’an!”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Ino promised, taking the hurt butterfly from the girl.  “Go and play with Heiwa and Michi-kun now.”

Yukiko nodded and ran off to the boys, and Ino turned to glare at Sakura.  “So, what is it, Forehead-chan?” she sneered.

Sakura shook, coming out of her shock of seeing Ino act like a babysitter to the little girl.  She smirked. “We get a C-rank mission. Bet you don’t get those.”

“Nice try,” Ino hissed.  “Now, what are you really here for?”

Sakura laughed.  “Buta-chan, don’t you know?  We’re protectors, keeping a man alive and from bandits.”

Ino blinked.  “Hokage-sama seriously gave _you_ a C-rank?”

“Yeah,” Sakura confirmed, flipping her hair over her shoulder.  “Why? You jealous?”

Ino looked down at the hurt butterfly in her hands.  “Well, to be honest, not really.” Green chakra flared in her hands and Sakura looked at her in confusion.  “Soon, that’s the lowest one we’re going to be doing. I kinda want to experience being a genin. Growing up fast isn’t that great, just saying.”

“What are you talking about?” Sakura asked as Ino stood up from the bench.

Ino chuckled.  “I’m just saying, Forehead, that maybe we should savor the time here, and not look towards the future for a little bit.  The future is a while away still.”

She began walking towards the trio of children, playing in the sand and squatted down beside them.  Showing them the butterfly in her hands, their eyes sparkled as it flew away.

Sakura just frowned and walked away from the playground, completely stumped by her rival’s actions.

* * *

Ino scanned the forbidden scroll in her hands, reading it thoroughly.  It had been quite easy to place a genjutsu to make people think that it was still there, and it was still fairly high.

“Do you think I could make a version of the 1000 healing Jutsu?” Ino asked, twirling a kunai absentmindedly.  “I mean, it looks fairly easy.”

Kabuto looked up from his own reading in the Lab.  “You know, it’s probably possible. Can you do it, though, is the real question.”

Ino licked her lips.  “True. But I already have an idea.  If I can perfect it, I can give it to Oro-chan.”  She pulled out a brand new notebook, and began to write over the first page.  “The idea is to do the thing where you build new cells, but at such a rate, they don’t wear out.  Of course, you’ll need to keep it flowing at all times, but that shouldn’t be too difficult with practice.”

Kabuto stood up and looked over her shoulder.  “You mean, you just are going to reduce your life by years?”

“Not exactly,” Ino said and looked up at the speckled boy.  “It’s like, if I get an arm cut off, it will grow back super fast, but I wouldn’t die before I was supposed to.”

Kabuto sighed.  “You know that every jutsu has it’s drawbacks, right?”

“Yup!” Ino exclaimed brightly.  “I know.”

Kabuto just sweatdropped and returned to his own work station, leaving Ino to work on her own jutsu.

She rubbed her neck where her Seal of Heaven was.  This was going to be the greatest jutsu she had ever created.

If she actually managed to perform it without killing herself.  And that was a big If.

* * *

Asuma loomed over the only female on his squad.  “Where were you?”

Ino glanced up from preening her nails.  “Kiko-oba-chan needed some certain seeds from the Land of Lightning.  The merchants were late, so she sent me to get them.”

“And it took two days?” Asuma demanded.

“One to get there, one to get back.  Don’t worry, I’m a big girl! And Aozora-kun came too.” Ino reassured and stood up.  “Let’s go and find some D-rank missions!”

* * *

Choji spoke up as they weeded a woman’s garden.

“I heard that Squad Seven are going on a C-rank mission,” he said, placing a large basket of the weeds into the woman’s compost.  “An escort to Nami no Kuni.”

Ino hummed in acknowledgement, then she turned to look at him.  “You’re kidding.” she deadpanned. “They gave _Naruto_ a C-rank mission?”

“It’s the truth,” Asuma confirmed, blowing smoke from between his lips.  “Otou-sama told me last night.”

Ino rolled her eyes then threw her weeds at Shikamaru, who was asleep on the woman’s hammock.  “Wake up, you lazy ass!” she shouted.

Shikamaru looked up, over his shoulder and glared at her for a moment before going back to sleep.  “Hey! Dumbass!” she shouted, marching over. “Wake up and help us!”

When he didn’t wake up again, Ino turned the hammock over, making him slam into the ground.  He sat up and glared at Ino, who pursed her lips.

“Fine, what do you want, woman?” he demanded.  Ino thrust a handful of weeds under his nose.

“Help us pick the damn weeds!” she shouted.  “Then, we report that she’s growing opium in her garden.”

Shikamaru’s eyes went wide, Choji’s neck snapped when he whipped it around too fast to stare at Ino, and Asuma choked on his cigarette smoke.

“She’s what now?” Asuma asked and Ino looked over.

“She’s growing opium in her tomatoes,” Ino said, pointing over at the red fruits.  “They’re in the early stages, but she must have been doing this for about two years.”

Asuma blinked and sighed.  He took another drag and looked up at the sky.  “Just finish the mission and we can go.”

Shikamaru stood up and Ino skipped back to work, proud that she had gotten Shikamaru to join her and Choji in their mission.

* * *

The Hokage stared at his son in confusion.  “Your client was growing opium in her garden?  How could you tell?”

Asuma opened his mouth, but Ino beat him to it.  “Golden Opium looks like it’s plastic, but real. It has a fuzzy leaves, but sometimes, you can tell because they turn kind of yellow.  Of course, you can only tell if someone is like, really good at hiding it, which she wasn’t.”

Everyone in the room blinked at her, but Ino just smiled brightly.

The Hokage turned to Asuma.  “I’ll have someone investigate immediately.  Thank you for alerting me to this, Squad 10.”

* * *

The next day, Ino backflipped away from Asuma’s kick and brought up her kunai to block his claws.

“Very good, Ino,” Asuma praised as they landed.  “Fire ball jutsu!”

Ino screamed and shot to the left.  She could hear Choji and Shikamaru chuckling in a tree somewhere as she slid under her teacher’s legs.  “Sensei! Don’t try to kill me!”

“Tough love, Ino.” Asuma laughed and threw a shuriken at her face.

Reflexively, Ino brought up her kunai, blocking it and sending it spinning off somewhere.  She breathed heavily in fear, and swallowed.

“Time!” Asuma shouted and her two other teammates materialized on the ground.  Ino relaxed and replaced her kunai. They lined up in front of their teacher, and he smiled down at them.  “Good job today, guys.” he praised. “Tomorrow is a day off, so have fun. See you later.”

“Bye Asuma-sensei!” they chorused and waved goodbye to each other.

A snake popped right up in front Ino, and she leapt forwards to catch it from hitting the ground.

“What does he need now?” Ino whined as the purple snake stared at her.

“Orochimaru-sssama sssaid that you need to come right now,” the snake hissed.  “It’s concerning Momochi Zabuza.”

Ino blinked and shot to her feet.  The snake disappeared in a puff of smoke and Ino shot down to the civilian area in the village.  She burst into the flower shop, and looked at Yuhi Misaki, her aunt’s latest employee.

“Is Kiko-oba-chan here?” Ino asked breathlessly.  Misaki shook her head. Ino darted to behind the counter and quickly wrote a note to her aunt.

“Can you give this to her?” Ino begged and Misaki nodded wordlessly.  “Thanks, Misa-chan!”

Ino shot out of the village after giving the guards quick explanations, and shot towards Nami no Kuni, not slowing down.

_‘Two days,’_ she thought.   _‘Just give me two days to get there.’_


	18. Poem of Death

“What happened?” Ino demanded, stopping in front of Kabuto at the border of the island. “What happened to Zabu-sensei?”

Kabuto wordlessly began walking, Ino following behind, her chakra waning. The white haired twenty year old gestured to a tree.

“Sit down, Ino,” he commanded softly. “You look like hell.”

It was true. She was covered in dirt, twigs were stuck in her pale blonde hair and her face was covered in scratches from trees. She wobbled when she place her arm against it and collapsed to the ground.

Kabuto knelt down next to her and handed her a chakra pill. She swallowed it dry as the bespeckled boy began to replenish her chakra and heal the worst of her scratches.

Orochimaru materialized next to them with Rogue’s cloak over his arm. He handed it to Ino, his face unnaturally serious. He pulled the pure white mask out of his tunic and handed it over to her.

“He’ll want to see you,” her mentor announced, turning away from Ino. “the half-finished bridge.”

Kabuto stood up, letting Ino throw the cloak over top of her dirty clothes, and pressed the mask to her face. She shot off, air displacement the only sound she left behind.

“You didn’t tell her everything,” Kabuto pointed out. “Sakura-”

“They will have to deal with it,” Orochimaru interrupted, staring off into the bright blue sky. “She’ll threaten Hatake, as well as Konoha. She has hated the village for a while now, but this will bring the actual feeling to light.”

“Manipulative as always,” Kabuto scoffed and looked towards the bridge. “With her too?”

Orochimaru seemed to shrink. “No, not her. Never her.”

Kabuto let out a hysterical laugh and rubbed a hand over his face. “She’s… she’s making us _feel_ , Orochimaru-sama. Us.”

Orochimaru laughed along. “Yes. But she always does that. To everyone.”

* * *

“Kakashi,” Zabuza croaked, his hand pressed against Haku’s cold cheek. “Will you leave it for her?”

Kakashi frowned. “Who?”

“The brat. The worst, and greatest, thing that has ever happened to us,” Zabuza answered. “I heard she’s pretty high up there in the bingo book, but not as high as her mentor.”

Kakashi blinked. _‘Who the hell is he talking about?’_

Zabuza laughed until he couldn’t, interrupted by coughing. “She’s my niece, not by blood, but just like he was my son, she was my niece.”

Now, Kakashi was even more confused. “Zabuza, who are you talking about?”

Zabuza opened his mouth and Kakashi leaned closer to hear. The fizzle of the air didn’t even register in his mind until it connected to his temple and sent him flying.

The Demon of the Mist stiffened, until he realized who it was. “Ino-chan,” he breathed. “I didn’t think that your teacher and big brother got the message to you fast enough.”

“Zabu-sensei.” Ino greeted. “It’s been too long.”

* * *

Kakashi slowly sat up, grimacing as the rubble fell from his body.

“Kakashi-sensei!” Sakura shouted in horror, rushing over to where her sensei laid. Naruto and Sasuke trailed behind her, their eyes wide. “What happened?” Sakura demanded.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Kakashi admitted, looking over to where Zabuza and Haku laid. A young person was holding Zabuza’s hand up to their face. Or mask. It was a pure white, glowing in the mist. A black hood was on their head, hiding their hair. The sleeves and bottom of the cloak looked like they had gone through a shredder, completely torn up.

Kakashi had gone completely still and Sakura looked at him in concern. Naruto, however, glared at the newcomer.

“Who the hell are you?!” he shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the person.

Kakashi grabbed his arm, pulling himself up. “That’s Rogue.” he announced and the entire bridge went silent. “The S-class criminal and murderer, Rogue.”

* * *

Ino linked her fingers with Zabuza’s cold one. Medical chakra flared up inside her core, and she sent it to her hands.

“I’m going to die, brat,” Zabuza pointed out as Ino’s warm hands fluttered over his taut stomach and chest. “You could just let me say my dying words.”

Ino smiled sadly behind her mask. “I’m listening, Zabu-sensei.”

Zabuza unlatched his fingers from his student’s and reached up around for the corner of her mask. “First, let me remove this.”

Ino moved to sit at his and Haku’s heads. Her teacher’s hand fell back to the bridge and Ino pulled the glowing mask off her face.

“There, Zabu-sensei,” Ino stated and lowered her head nearer to his. “Tell me your last words.”

* * *

“Rogue?” Sakura repeated. She looked at her white haired sensei in confusion. “Who’s that?”

Kakashi fingered his kunai. “For the last two years, a young child has been terrorizing people, ninja and shinobi alike. We had no idea who they were, or what gender they were. In the bingo book, we call them The Rogue Ninja, or Rogue for short.”

“So, why is he called that?” Naruto asked, squinting at the person.

Kakashi shrugged. “It was a clever name but it’s so vague because we don’t know anything about them. We don’t have a face, only a description that they wear a destroyed cloak and pure white mask.”

“We’ll be fighting two S-class ninjas?” Sasuke hissed. “Can’t we do anything to avoid that?”

Kakashi grimaced. “Unfortunately, we don’t know if we’re fighting him or not.”

* * *

Ino’s eyes became watery when Zabuza smiled up to her. “Can I at least make it comfortable for you?” she begged.

Zabuza chuckled but was interrupted by a wet cough with blood flying from his mouth. “Where Haku-kun’s going, I won’t be.”

“Don’t count yourself out yet, Zabu-sensei,” Ino laughed as she warmed his body with medical ninjutsu. “You made me more sane then I have been in a while.”

Zabuza chuckled. “True, but, if I… ever had a daughter… in my life, I would have… wanted her… to be… like you.”

“What would you have named her?” Ino asked, flitting to the other side of his body.

Zabuza thought for a moment and then gave her a bloody tooth smile. “I think… I would name her… Tsukiko. Yeah… Tsu… ki… ko.” and then, his eyes turned glaze and his arm fell limply to his chest, Ino’s mask in hand. Ino bowed her head and the world went silent.

* * *

Kakashi lowered his head in respect as the man called a demon fell to the expectation of all shinobi.

“Kakashi-sensei, Momochi Zabuza is dead?” Sakura asked.

Kakashi turned to look at his student. “Yes, Sakura.”

“Oh.” was all Sakura said and she too lowered her head. The entire village did, respect for the man who was called a demon.

After a moment of silence, Kakashi raised his head and glared at the young child who was called Rogue. He lifted his headband and his blood red eye narrowed in on the child.

“Rogue,” Kakashi called and he saw the child’s head twitch in his direction. “Who are you?”

The child claimed their mask from Zabuza’s frozen fingers and replaced it on their face. They rolled to face the Copy Cat ninja and he could almost see the wide grin on the child’s face.

“I’ve heard so much about you, Hatake Kakashi of the Sharingan,” they crackle and spun on their foot to look at them. “Zabu-sensei idolized you for gaining such a rare ability, and into your person, no less. Of course, he got one too, in the form of a tool.”

“Haku was not a tool!” Naruto shouted angrily. “He’s was never a tool!”

Kakashi had expected this and Rogue didn’t even seem fazed, which seemed odd to Kakashi. Shouldn’t they be surprised?

Rogue shrugged helplessly. “You know, I dunno. He always talked about himself like he was one. I don’t see your problem.”

Sakura turned to glare at the child, her fist tight with anger. “You don’t know anything about him! Haku was pure in spirit-”

Rogue waved her off. “Oh, I know all about them. I did train with them for a month two years ago. Zabu-sensei taught me everything I know about sword techniques. Haku-niichan taught me everything else about senbon and the body parts!”

Sasuke gritted his teeth and tugged a senbon out of his arm. Rogue clucked their tongue at him, and wagged their finger. “I wouldn’t do that if I was you. Haku-niichan tends to get you in non vital places, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t do it carelessly. You’ll probably lose your arm~”

Kakashi cast a sideways glance at the last Uchiha who had his hand paused over another senbon. “Don’t worry, Sasuke,” Kakashi soothed, turning back to the ninja in front of them. “I can get them out without killing you.”

Rogue shrugged again and a snake slithered out from her sleeves. It hissed at them, but the child cooed at it.

“Aw, Uwambi-chan, how are you?”

“Orochimaru-sssama wantsss you back at the bassse sssoon,” the snake hissed at the child. “He alssso sssaid, no complaining. Jussst come.”

The child stomped their foot angrily. “Oro-chan can wait!” they shrieked. “Zabu-sensei and Haku-niichan need to be avenged!”

“I’ll tell him,” the snake promised dryly. “Jussst don’t get into a battle you can’t win, Rogue.”

Rogue crossed their arms perpetually. “I’m not going to!”

“Doesss’t ssseem that way to me,” the snake told them. “Goodbye, Rogue. I’ll tell Orochimaru-sssama your answer.”

“Kuba-nii will probably come and grab me before I can even start killing them,” the child pouted. “Besides, I’m only leaving Kakashi with a message.”

“Good luck, Rogue-sssama.” the snake hissed once more and disappeared into a puff of smoke.

Rogue breathed deeply through their nose, and released it through their mouth slowly. Kakashi stiffened when he felt their eyes on him.

“Hatake Kakashi,” the shinobi announced. “A little bit of advice from me. I will kill you, and destroy your village for killing my teacher. I may do it soon, I may not do it for years, but I will destroy you.”

Kakashi stiffened. This was an odd threat, because he knew, he just knew, this child would actually do that. It wouldn’t matter how many times they needed to try, he knew they wouldn’t stop till they actually did it.

Sakura decided to talk tough and defend her village. “I’d like to see you try!” she shouted haughtily.

Rogue seemed to consider the young pinkette, then they disappeared in a blur of speed. Kakashi’s eyes widened, but before he could even blink, Sakura had flown back and smashed into the bridge, far away from the group.

“Sakura-chan!” Naruto shouted in concern. He turned to glare at the child who had taken his female teammate’s place.

Rogue lowered their leg and seemed to look at the scratched pinkette. “Well, that was boring.” they sighed. “What a waste of human skin. Terribly tragic. Now, don’t forget Kakashi-chan~” The air around her became black and everyone prepared for battle. “I’m holding all my anger right now because Zabu-sensei ordered me to. He said, ‘don’t go into an unnecessary battle. Wait for the right time, but until then, keep that anger bottled up like you have’ and I’ll follow someone else, but when the time comes to kill you, I will not hold back.”

And then, Rogue disappeared from the bridge, a black tulip left in their place.


End file.
